


Original: The Angel of National City

by Local_Asshole



Category: Supergirl (Comics), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Multiple Endings, Sex, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-08-28 08:02:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 71,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8437789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Local_Asshole/pseuds/Local_Asshole
Summary: By a peculiar stroke of fate, Kara and Lucy begin to spend more time together and gradually fall in love, but a heinous plot looms in the horizon; infamous and notorious villains from all over the world are released from prisons by bail and mysteriously disappear, but that's only the beginning. The colossal magnitude of the atrocity goes unnoticed by the world until it's too late.

  By the way...THIS STORY DOES GET DARK. Like, REALLY DARK. Read at your own risk and I will ALWAYS post potential trigger warnings!





	1. Service

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy asks Kara for a favor, which turns out to be whether or not she could live with the young blonde following her break-up with Jimmy Olsen as she finds it too awkward to continue living with her ex-boyfriend.

# Service

* * *

Kara stirred from her nap after a muffled knock on the door reverberated through her apartment. She checked the time. 3 P.M.

Apparently, the person was impatient and banged on the entrance once again with an increase in volume.

The blonde startled awake, groggily pulling up her navy-blue sweatpants before acknowledging the guest at the door, who continued to increase the amplitude of the knocks, "I'm coming! Hold on!"

The hammering halted immediately, Kara was generally a very tolerant young woman, but she did feel a little bit irked as she shuffled her way towards the entrance, unhinging the lock, swinging the large plank of wood wide open.

Her vexation vanished once she saw who it was.

"Major – I mean, Director Lane?"

The brunette looked slightly disgruntled, which was rare for the soldier as she always maintained a professional demeanor. Kara noticed the younger Lane's appearance was clad in a crimson cashmere sweater and black skinny jeans – quite a bit less formal than usual. The blonde then looked down at her own outfit, comparing them and mentally cursing at herself for how under-dressed she was at the impeccable occasion; finally, she realized that her top was completely unbuttoned.

"Oh, uh..." Lucy averted her eyes and took a step back, "Ahem..."

Kara squealed, her face heating up, and ran her hands through her unruly blonde locks before scrambling to button up her shirt, "S-Sorry about that, heh..." She shook her head and gave a nervous grin.

The Kryptonian was very thankful that her guest had not noticed her rosy pink face, but Lucy seemed flushed as well.

"Excuse me, Kara, for the interruption," the soldier coughed out awkwardly, "but I sort of, kind of, need a...favor..."

Kara did not hesitate and gave a kind, gentle smile, "Yeah. Totally. Sure." She would not refuse to help her boss, let alone her friend. They have worked with each other for about a year now; they may not have had time to forge something like Alex's and Kara's relationship, but their bond was treated with the utmost respect by the both of them.

However, Lucy was a bit surprised by her quick reply, initially she did not think she would come this far, but she continued, "Um, James and I..."

A pause.

"We broke up."

"Oh," Kara did not know how to react, "What do you need? Do you want to come in? I can make some tea or coffee, maybe get a snack for you?"

The Lane raised her hands up, "Woah, it's all right, Kara, we're both still on good terms, I just needed to...find someone to room with?"

The last few words of her sentence had a raised intonation.

The blonde tilted her head to the side, unsure of what she just heard, "Pardon?"

Lucy sighed, rephrasing herself, "Would I be able to move in with you? Living with an ex-boyfriend is kind of awkward..."

Strangely, for the both of them, Kara instantly agreed.

"You...You _what_?" the brunette said, the shock caused her arching brow, but her stiffened posture relaxed.

"Of course. You're always welcome here, Director Lane."

The brunette held her index finger up and corrected her, "Lucy." Then she smiled, "Just call me Lucy. We've worked with each other for a year at the D.E.O. _and_ CatCo, _and_ we've had several lunch breaks together, so you can just call me Lucy. Plus, we're technically not working at the moment."

"Oh...no problem..." Kara laughed, "So when will you be moving in?"

"I can gather my stuff and be here by tomorrow night?"

"Do you need help?"

The Lane scoffed, "No thanks, Supergirl, I think I can move a few boxes by myself."

The blonde shrugged, "Okay, whatever you say. Suit yourself."

* * *

"Told you so," Kara snickered, carrying a load of cardboard boxes that towered above her head compared to Lucy's three plastic containers that even she was struggling up the stairs with.

Supergirl tossed the column into one hand before raising her other to make a puppet out of it, mocking the brunette's previous statement, "'I think I can move a few boxes myself'."

"Shut up..." Lucy chuckled.

Kara stuck her tongue out and reached over to pick up the top-most crate her friend was holding.

"Hey!" the brunette scoffed, "I may not be as strong as you, but I can definitely handle a couple of boxes."

"That's what you said last time," the Kryptonian reminded her.

"Rude!"

The blonde was caught off guard by the slight bump Lucy made with her shoulder, causing the heavy tower to topple over.

"Careful!" Kara panicked, before hovering over the shorter woman to shield her from a possible concussion.

Once the rain of boxes stopped, she released Lucy, the brunette heaving a relieved sigh, "Thanks, you're my hero, Supergirl."

"Don't mention it," the blonde smiled, "It _is_ my _job_ after all."

"Kara! Your glasses!" Lucy picked up the broken frame from the carpeted floor of the building, "I'm so sorry!"

"Oh, it's no problem!" the blonde reached up to her face to push her glasses up.

Only they were not there.

So, she attempted to cover the habitual mistake she made by brushing loose strands of hair over her ear.

Unfortunately, she was unable to cover up the faux pas.

Lucy chuckled and Kara face-palmed, partly to hide her embarrassed, reddened cheeks, "Oh my god, I can't believe I just did that..."

The soldier brushed the broken lenses before placing them on the taller woman's face, "Ta-da! At least some of the glass is still intact."

As if on cue, the frame completely fell apart.

Kara slouched, pouting, and blowing a strand of hair in front of her face away.

Lucy folded her arms, smirking, "Don't be so cross, I'll buy you a new pair; this time ones that are almost as indestructible as you."

"I actually have another pair," the blonde replied, "So there's no need for that. I usually keep the lead-lined ones in my apartment on my days off."

"Do you also check people out with your x-ray vision on those 'days off'?" Lucy teased.

The Kryptonian was caught off guard by the statement and awkwardly shuffled her feet, "N-No, I don't."

The brunette took her body language's answer differently though and laughed, "Oh my God, you _do_!"

The alien was, quite frankly, being honest, "No! I don't! I swear I'm not a pervert!"

"Sure..." the shorter woman continued to tease.

"Well," Kara changed the subject, "Now look at what you did, we have to carry all of this stuff up again!"

Lucy waved her arm, "Stop whining. You can take care of that, Supergirl."

The blonde squinted her eyes, "Fine, but I'm probably going to be complaining about this for the entire day."

She continued, "Also, now _I_ get to choose the dinner for tonight. I'm going to order some pizza."

The brunette shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

* * *

Lucy sighed, plopping herself next to Kara on the couch, "Those boxes were a bitch to move."

The blonde clicked her tongue, her voice harbored an annoyed tone to it, " _I'm_ the one who moved those boxes."

Before Lucy knew it she felt a push and was suddenly on the ground.

Glancing up, she noticed Kara had made herself comfortable, utilizing all of the space on the couch.

The brunette glared daggers at her roommate, but they were ignored as the Kryptonian smirked and made to turn on the television, taking a bite of her cheesy pizza, "Movie night?"

Lucy gave an enthusiastic nod, the pair of legs raising up high in the air to make room before resting down on top of her lap.

Before they could select a movie, the door clicked open and in came Alex, who stiffened at the sight of the head of the D.E.O., who made herself comfortable on her little sister's couch, "Director Lane? Why're you here? It's late and..."

"Relax, Danvers, I've just decided to move in with Supergirl," giving the agent a sly smile, which was complemented by Kara's beaming face.

"Want to join us for movie night, sis?"

Alex glanced between the two quizzically, back and forth, then back and forth again, "Um, I was just checking up on you, and since when were you two this close?"

Kara shrugged, taking another bite from the pizza, "We both worked at CatCo, we've spent a few of our lunch breaks together. So are you going to join us or not?"

"You know what," Alex pondered, "I think I'm going to leave you two _roomies_ alone so you both can get to know each other better."

"It's all right," Lucy chided, gesturing to the Kryptonian sitting next to her, "This one's a lot of work to deal with, so I can understand why you wouldn't want to stay the night."

The blonde gasped and flared her nostrils before chomping a large piece of pizza and swallowing it down, poking the offending person with her toes, "How dare you, I could melt your face right now if I wanted to."

Lucy ignored her, "So how's Hank – or...J'onn, doing these past few days without me?"

"Well, he's been director for a long time so he's handling the abandonment well," the agent smirked, "We still call him Director Henshaw though, it just kind of stuck. Plus, not every human can get the Martian inflection in 'J'onn' or 'J'onzz' right."

"But officially I'm the director," Lucy chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess, but we're so used to 'Director Henshaw', and nobody in the D.E.O. can decide whether to settle on 'Director Lane' or 'Major Lane', so it's just all over the place honestly."

"Understandable, I usually like taking the field jobs instead of sitting behind monitors in a cave all day."

Alex snickered for a bit before shaking her head and closing the door.

* * *

Their first week together was not as awkward as either of them had assumed, save for one horridly embarrassing moment, at least for the Lane.

Lucy did not often have time to revisit her childhood or actually relax and have fun, so whenever she was positive her roommate would be absent for a few hours, she would slip into her baby blue pajamas complemented with Kara's squeaky bunny slippers and watch reruns of _Tom and Jerry_.

Being the Army general's daughter was as unpleasant as it sounded. When Lois estranged herself from the family after their mother had died, Samuel Lane was much more protective of his second and remaining daughter. Lucy was sent to boarding schools and boot camps over the summers, forcing her to grow up much faster than the other children as the general was often absent from the house for his duties. The moment she turned seventeen, she enlisted for the reserves in the Army. The moment she graduated from Harvard's law department, she was lost and confused as to the direction her life would be going; after several months of being a lawyer, she decided she was unhappy and applied to be a full and active member of the military.

There were times she did not regret the decision, mainly because of meeting new friends and traveling, garnering new experiences every day that she was dispatched. Eventually, she gained the title of Major Lane, making her father proud; Lucy thought seeing him happy would do the same for her, and as much as she tried convincing herself of that, she was wrong.

Most of the time she hated being in the Army; leading a squadron of her friends and subordinates into a possibly unwinnable battle was not particularly pleasant. Then again, she thought anyone from either side of the war were not victors. So many soldiers and innocents killed before her very eyes, sometimes under her own orders, direct or indirect. The casualties would often come back to haunt her: friends, comrades, family, and people who looked up to their leader.

Her post-traumatic stress disorder did not affect her nearly at all anymore, for which she was thankful. Still, Lucy never knew why she ended up working for the government after being honorably discharged. It was frightening to think that there was a part of her that actually enjoyed being on the field. Being a lawyer was too dull, too mundane.

A jingle of keys interrupted her reverie. She panicked.

_She's not supposed to be home now._

The door swung wide open and Kara halted, soaking up the image of Lucy in her silky baby blue pajamas watching old cartoons.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Lucy blurted out, red faced.

"Are those...my bunny slippers?" the blonde pointed, a dumbfounded expression painted her face.

The brunette buried her face in her hands, "This is embarrassing, I'm so sorry, it's just that I don't have a lot of time to sit back and relax. I know that's no excuse but..."

Kara burst into tears of laughter, "It's fine! I actually find it sort of charming."

_I wonder why it didn't work out with you and James..._

"No, it's not fine, especially not ' _charming_ '!" Lucy cried, her blush intensifying.

The blonde set down her keys and plopped onto the cushion of the couch next to her, "Okay, I won't tell anyone if you give me my slippers back and I can watch with you."

Lucy found herself nodding at Kara's bright, white smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	2. Unspoken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pair continue to grow closer with each passing day. They begin to question their feelings, but have no time to dwell on them as the D.E.O. requires their full, and professional, attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Unspoken

* * *

Soon, the days eventually turned into weeks and the roommates began to do just about everything together; from cleaning the house, to washing the dishes, to folding the laundry, they probably would have been mistaken for a couple.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead, it's already ten in the morning and you haven't eaten your breakfast yet," Lucy sang.

Her statement was met with a groan and to what she perhaps took as the grumble of Kara's stomach.

The blonde mumbled something unintelligible and the Lane decided to be more insistent.

She dived onto the bed, right on top of Kara, flattening the poor Kryptonian, who shouted in response, "Hey! Get off of me!"

Lucy was flipped over onto the hardwood floor, but the blonde decided to pick her up with one arm over her shoulder and set her outside of the bedroom. However, before she could shut the door, the woman propped her foot through the crevasse.

"What do you want, Lucy?" Kara pouted, stomping her feet.

The brunette ecstatically jumped in the air and grabbed Kara's hand to drag her away from the tempting bed, "We're going grocery shopping!" leading her straight out the entrance.

* * *

"You want to cook brunch?" the blonde inquired, strolling the cart through the aisles.

"Yeah! We haven't had homemade food in a long time, why not?"

"So...what are we cooking?"

Lucy suddenly halted in her steps, rubbing her chin, "Huh...I didn't think I'd get too far with waking you up."

"Is that an 'I don't know'?"

"Since it's your apartment we're cooking in, you can choose, plus, you're the one with the big appetite."

Kara crossed her arms, scoffing, "Hey! Kryptonians need their nutrition! Ten-thousand calories at _least_ , and that's the bare minimum for me."

"You're lucky you're an alien, you don't gain weight on this planet."

"We can make some chocolate pecan pie, the best desert in the galaxy," the blonde squealed with excitement.

"How about that _and_ something more substantial? Like..." Lucy snapped her fingers as if it would give her an idea, "Aha! French toast and omelettes!"

"That sounds wonderful."

"So what are the ingredients on the list?"

"Hmmm. Well, the last time I looked through the refrigerator we had eggs, milk, some meat, butter, and an expired tub of sour cream," the Kryptonian stated matter-of-factly.

"Then we need some sour cream, flour to make dough, pecans, chocolate, and what else?"

"A jar of jam wouldn't hurt," Kara suggested, licking her lips.

Lucy suddenly lost her concentration on the matter, distracted by the blonde's tongue. She felt a rush of heat snaking up her neck and deep into her cheekbones.

"Ahem," Danvers coughed, pretending not to notice the light shade of red settled in the woman's face.

The brunette shook her head and refocused on their main goal: food, "So, where to first?"

It seems Kara was not listening as she nearly shouted out, "Bacon!" She pointed at the slab of meat sitting atop the cooled shelves.

Lucy's face morphed into one of disgust, "Vegan here."

It looked as if she was about to throw up, "Kara, do you know how cruel the processing of meat is? For both the workers and the animals? It's practically slavery."

"But it's slathered in _honey_!" she protested, jabbing in the air towards the meat.

"Kara, I'm not restricting your Kryptonian diet, but I'm not going to be eating it with you."

"You underestimate me, Lucy Lane. Kryptonians have to eat a _lot_ more than humans do," she cried, picking up the product and setting it into the cart, "Mmm...sweet and slavery."

They both widened their eyes, their mouths agape.

" _Savory_! I-I meant _savory_!" Kara shouted awkwardly, pressing her face into her palms in shame.

Lucy couldn't hold her bouts of laughter and chuckled, "I shouldn't be giggling about this."

The blonde noticed the glass of jelly sitting in an aisle next to them and slowly lifted the small jar from its seat to cover her embarrassed face.

"Hey..." Lucy said, patting her friend's hand, "It's okay for everyone to slip up their words once in a while."

The Kryptonian clutched the jelly against the center of her chest, "I've never been all that great with words honestly, I slip up all the time."

"But," Lucy countered, "it's in such an adorkable way that everyone finds it so endearing."

Then she whispered, "Plus, you're an alien, so the expectations might be adjusted a little bit lower for you."

The soldier received a sheepish grin.

"Last thing on our list is...flour." Lucy reached for the large packet of white powder and carefully set it down in the cart.

They made their way to the checkout line, creating a fuss of who would pay.

"I _insist_."

"No, _I_ insist _,_ Kara."

"You're so stubborn, just let me do it!"

"I haven't repaid my debt to you, I owe you for letting me move in!"

The blonde set the jelly against her side and opened her mouth to protest before an unfamiliar, aged voice called out, "What lovely young ladies. What seems to be the problem?"

The pair turned to meet the gaze of an old woman, the wrinkles on her face suggesting she was perhaps eighty years of age. Her experienced eyes were full of patience and kindness.

"We're just deciding who should pay, and _I_ will do it."

The brunette sighed exasperatedly, "No!"

"Excuse me," the lady interjected with a toothless grin, so wide it made her eyes squint closed, "I understand, I think you both can come up with a compromise. Married couples fight all the time, it's perfectly healthy."

The roommates stopped breathing, then Lucy attempted to correct her with awkwardly gesturing hands, "Oh, w-we're not a coup..."

" _Married_?" Kara exclaimed. There was a cracking of glass before an explosion of gelatinous material splattered the surrounding area.

"Oh, dear me!" cried the old woman, reaching up to push her bifocals closer to her eyes so she could survey the area.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" the Kryptonian apologized, bowing down her head.

To further increase the awkwardness of her faux pas, Kara's hands were covered in jelly, and also on her face.

Luckily, Lucy swooped in and slapped down the money, "Keep the change, there's an extra twenty in there for you because of the mess we made." The brunette quickly swiped up the bags and led Kara outside.

"Ugh, I suck at life," Kara cried, wiping the jelly off of her face.

"It's okay, as I said, we sometimes slip up and almost reveal ourselves to be an alien from Krypton," came the somewhat comforting voice.

The blonde's eyes squinted, "But I..."

"Shhh, no 'buts'," Lucy silenced the grieving girl's lips with her finger before leaning in closer towards her ear, "You also still have some jelly left over."

"What?" Kara seemed to wipe every part of her face except for the spot.

"Here," the brunette caressed the super hero's blushing cheeks to keep her steady, then with her thumb, swiped the offending gelatin that remained.

* * *

"The hell are you doing!"

"What?" Kara paused, "Am I doing something wrong?"

"Yes," the shorter woman scoffed, "Always cook with an apron you dummy."

"I don't have time to cook a lot, I mostly just get takeout."

"I've noticed," Lucy stated, carrying out an apron from the closet and reaching around Kara's waist to tie it on.

The brunette scanned her, "It's missing something."

The Lane pulled out a piece of paper and started to fold it in various patterns. Kara observed, noticing the slender outlines of Lucy's fingers, and her nails, they were painted a deep crimson. Her eyes trailed the curves of the shorter woman's body.

The Kryptonian coughed, blinking her focus back to what the paper was being formed into. A chef's hat, which was hastily placed on top of her head.

Lucy laughed, swinging her hips against her partner's, "Can't be a real chef without that, can you?"

Kara scrunched her nose, "Well, I'm done with the eggs, now we just have to wait for the pie to bake."

"About thirty more minutes should do it."

Absentmindedly, the blonde flicked flour onto Lucy's face.

The reaction she received was a deadpanned look before she shoved Kara's chest, resulting in white, powdery hand prints.

"It's on..."

"Kryptonian versus human."

"I don't like to brag, but I think I know who'll win," Kara pointed to herself before tossing the open bag of flour at her opponent.

It exploded into a glorious mess of white, the particles still hanging in the air.

The blonde was laughing her heart out, but the soldier swiped a couple of eggs, smashing them against Kara's body.

They dove for cover on opposite ends of the kitchen, gathering materials from the drawers and cupboards for ammunition.

It was a mess of food as various delicacies zipped through the air. There were screams of joy while they chased each other around. They slipped and skated through the house, bringing a trail of destruction to every object within a few feet. Egg yolks lined the wall, wet batter sloshed over tables, and somehow the lid of a pot made itself comfortable in the ceiling.

Kara was no match for Lucy's trigger finger as she sent a ball of dough flying through the air.

It made an impact on the Kryptonian's chest, and she clutched her heart, pretending to faint, "I've been shot!"

The soldier charged at the alien with full force and jumped onto her back, holding tight as Supergirl attempted to get her opponent to release her.

Eventually, Kara lost balance and both fell onto the snowy floor with a thud, making imprints through the powder.

They laid there, laughing until tears came out, both holding their stomachs from the pleasant food fight.

Until they smelled a burning odor and saw black smoke rising out of the oven.

"The pie!"

They scrambled for the kitchen aperture and opened it to be greeted with a small fire.

Lucy screamed, taking the pie out and looking around frantically, "Where's the flame extinguisher?"

"I don't know!" Kara panicked.

"Do you even have one!"

"I don't know!" she repeated.

"What're we going to do!"

An idea popped into Kara's head, she sucked in a deep breath and blew over the oven. Though it was successful, the oven was frozen with ice because she was so panicked.

The Kryptonian leaned back against the granite kitchen counter and sighed, "Well...that was certainly an adventure."

The brunette poked her shoulder, "Pie?"

She was holding in one hand the almost black dessert and a fork in the other, already cutting out a hard piece to feed her roommate, and then she herself took a bite.

"This is horrible," Lucy said with a mouthful, spitting it out.

Kara crunched a piece of burnt bread with her teeth and forced herself to swallow, "Still the best dessert in the galaxy though."

She placed the flour-covered paper hat on top of Lucy's head, sharing choruses of their laughter together before being interrupted by a call.

Lucy picked up the phone and answered, "Yes?"

Kara listened in with her super hearing.

"This is Director Henshaw, some aliens have escaped their cells, we need you and Supergirl. Now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	3. Absence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to the escaped aliens running amok in and out of the facility, the pair are busier than ever, but it does not stop them from doing everything they can to spend time with each other.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE AT THE BEGINNING.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Absence

* * *

They were on their way towards the D.E.O. entrance.

"What's the problem, J'onn?" Kara asked.

"About a dozen of the most dangerous aliens have escaped their cells, two of them are missing from the facility, likely in hiding somewhere in National City by now."

"Shit..."

Lucy nodded, pulling her gun from its holster, aiming the pistol at the entrance, "We'll take care of these bastards first, then we can go after the others."

Kara agreed before ripping apart the metal double doors, eyes wide open. It was utter chaos as different species of aliens were bouncing off the walls and ceilings.

Her distraction cost her though, as a tentacle slithered its way around Supergirl and pulled her in, smashing her up and down, alternating with the hard surfaces.

"Son of a bitch!" Lucy yelled, sliding next to the life form, clenching her legs around its neck before using her momentum to bring it down, knocking it out with the utmost finesse.

The Kryptonian was dropped onto the floor, gasping, "Thanks, Lucy. That was badass."

The brunette gave a thumbs up and surveyed the room, deducting that seven of the nine remaining monsters were taken out already, "Vasquez, get on my six! We're going after this one."

The agent was immediately by Lucy, covering her backside as they both shot at their target, every hit making their mark and weakening the beast.

Supergirl rushed in full speed and tackled the small giant against the wall. It slumped to the floor.

"Kara, this one's escaping!" Alex warned, running towards the exit.

In the corner of her eye she saw a blur and proceeded to make chase. However, the being sprouted wings and took flight.

"Wait, it's got something! Don't get near it!" Lucy shouted, "It's..."

"What?" Kara yelled back, unable to hear the last word.

When the Kryptonian turned, she noticed a glint of neon green as the creature twisted around and thrust the glowing shard straight at her.

For Supergirl, everything seemed to be in slow motion, and as the blade gradually approached her position she heard a "get down", then a part of her vision was obscured by a head of dark hair and beautiful forest green eyes.

Time's tempo seemed to restore itself, and Kara felt a slight weight suddenly lean against her, and automatically held onto what felt like a limp body, slumping down to the ground with it.

The blonde simply gawked at the woman who just saved her, "L-Lucy?"

What came out of the soldier's lips was almost an inaudible wheeze and a trail of red liquid dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"Lucy!" Kara felt tears forming in her eyes, and right then, Alex was by her side.

"Kara, get back!"

She did as she was told.

Agent Danvers flipped the Director onto her side. Lucy grunted at the movement through her heavy breathing, then closed her eyes, hoping to will the pain away.

The shard of Kryptonite peaked through her skin and tore through the cloth, blood soaked through her shirt and pooled onto the floor at an alarming rate.

"I need a medic! Now!" Alex pleaded, "Her left lung's been punctured and probably filling up with fluid, it could collapse!"

But Kara barely heard any of that, the background noise just rang, and she could only listen to the shaky, uneven breaths of one of her closest friends.

Her older sister continued, "She's lost consciousness!" Alex leaned down and hovered her ear above Lucy's mouth, also placing a finger at her pulse point, "Still breathing!"

Supergirl could only stand frozen, and watch as her friend was placed on a gurney and taken away.

* * *

A restless Kara had spent the past three weeks in and out of the hospital. Lucy was set to discharge within the next day, and apparently, due to the advanced technology of the D.E.O., her recovery was faster than normal.

But not fast enough for Kara though. She missed having Lucy around to talk with, to watch movies with, to cook with, to shop with. It dawned on her that there would be days, weeks, or even months like these because of the danger posed to the both of them. She felt stupid that she forgot to take Lucy's humanity into account, that she was fragile, and that she could die because of it; that meant no more movies, games, cooking, or anything. Grasping the idea of human mortality was absolutely surreal.

Kara ran her hands through her hair before placing her palms against her face, letting out a muffled scream.

"Hey..." a weak voice said, "It's not your fault."

Though they were told that the tissue would regenerate and was close to fully healing, Lucy still looked like shit because of the medication. Narcotics. It made her look perpetually tired.

"Yeah..." Kara's throat cracked.

After a moment, the patient decided to intertwine her fingers with the blonde's, "You should get some sleep." Lucy chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Take a break. You don't have to visit me _every_ day you know, but I do appreciate the flowers, I'm touched that you remembered my favorite."

Kara smiled slightly and whispered, "Blue poppies..."

Then the heartbroken Kryptonian frowned, and pulled her hand away from the warm skin of Lucy's fingertips.

The brunette wanted to protest, but she silently whined to herself, reluctantly retracting her hand.

Kara sniffled, "I'm going to go now..."

Without waiting for a response, she rose and left.

* * *

"Kara," Alex groaned for the millionth time, "It's _not_ your fault, and you're being ridiculous for thinking that."

The hero was pacing all over her apartment, clearly she had not slept since the incident.

"But it _is_ ," she protested, "If I'd been faster, stronger...how could I've been so...so _careless_?"

Her older sister sighed, then her face softened, "I'm sure Director Lane was very happy that she took the hit instead of you."

A pause.

Alex hesitated, "And honestly...I agree. I'm thankful that you didn't get hurt."

Kara halted her pacing, her voice filled with anger, "How could you say that?"

"What?" the auburn-haired woman raised her volume as well, "Just because she's your friend you expect me to feel the same way? You're my _sister_ , and I barely know her! Save for the fact that her dad is quite literally the most frustrating, uptight, xenophobic old white man ever!"

"That's nothing! It doesn't mean that Lucy feels the same way!"

"Even when she sided with him and arrested J'onn and I after we saved your ass from red Kryptonite and pretty much the whole goddamned city?"

Kara could not help but be a little more offended at the implication if they had not intervened, she would have obliterated National City.

"You're wrong. Lucy's kind, sincere, sweet, thoughtful, considerate... _everything_ an ideal person would be!"

It was Alex's turn to give a puzzled look and she scoffed, "You've only lived with each other for several months and now you're suddenly acting like she's the most important person in the world. I know she redeemed herself, but there's always room for doubt."

Kara narrowed her eyes and sighed, "No. Not with Lucy. She's...she's different, and she's a great friend."

 _Do you think she's more than just a friend to you?_ Alex wanted to ask, but she decided to quell her suspicions and opted for something subtle, "Kara, listen... You might not like what I have to say, and I've worked with the government for so long to know not to trust pretty much anybody, but you always manage to find the good in everyone. I don't trust her, maybe not yet. However, I trust you, and if you trust her, I'm always willing to give her a chance."

The blonde nodded slowly, the mixed feelings of anger at herself and Alex coupled with, perhaps, _love_ for Lucy were causing turmoil in her mind. She could not quite pinpoint the latter of the emotions and decided to ignore it.

* * *

It had been a week since Lucy had been back, and her recovery had been phenomenal. However, Kara was not as cheerful as she used to be.

The brunette was starting to think that the superhero did not feel quite so "super" as, despite living together, she was avoiding Lucy as often as she could. The blonde had not been this brooding since her cousin died at the hands of Lex Luthor, well, mostly Doomsday.

So, Lucy decided to wait patiently for Kara to come home. The brunette usually went to bed at around nine on her days off, which the CatCo employee always seemed to conveniently arrive after the time to avoid confrontation.

The jingling of metal triggered her attention, and she quickly strode to the door and opened it.

Kara was holding her keys in midair, and looked up to see Lucy. She fumbled with the metal objects, placing them within her purse.

"Ahem," the brunette began.

"Lucy," Kara interrupted, gliding past her, "I-I thought you'd be in bed by now...it's pretty late."

"Cut the crap. What the hell is going on with you?"

The blonde sighed and dropped her purse, shrugging, "I-I just..."

"Just what?"

"I don't want to endanger you more than I already have..."

Her small voice broke Lucy's heart, and she pinched her nose, "Kara, you don't need to do that. In fact, I'd rather you didn't. I – we...we're always going to be in the face of danger whether we like it or not."

"I thought you were going to die. I was scared," the blonde's voice was tinier this time.

An expression of anger flashed across Lucy's face, "I thought that _you_ were going to die!"

She immediately regretted it as she saw Kara flinch, almost shrinking away. The shorter woman followed her instinct to comfort the girl, placing her hands on her arms, "I'm sorry."

Lucy let a tear fall and rubbed her hands on the blonde's sagging shoulders, "You know what Kryptonite does to you. _You_ could've died."

Before Kara could reply she was caught in a tight embrace, which she reciprocated, resting her chin on top of the brown-haired woman.

They stood like that, bodies pressed against one another, savoring the moment.

"Come on, Supergirl," Lucy tugged on her wrist and led her out the doorway towards her car.

"Uh, where are we going? It's dark outside."

* * *

"The park?" Kara repeated, carrying several blankets.

"Don't think I don't notice you gazing longingly out of the windows at the stars."

Luckily it was dark so her sheepish blush was not seen, "So...we're spending the night here?"

"Yes. We're going to have a proper conversation with each other, unlike the times you got all broody."

"Hey! I don't _brood_."

"I beg to differ."

Once the pair set the blankets down and laid on them, they stayed silent for a good five minutes, soaking in the light of the stars.

Honestly, Lucy had no idea what to say. Her Kara withdrawal diminished her social skills. However, she felt relieved when her friend was the first to break the silence.

The blonde pointed up at a cluster of tiny, bright lights, tracing a sequence, "That one is Andromeda. And this one, it's Cassiopeia."

"So all of that brooding did teach you something, huh." Lucy scooted closer so that their shoulders were touching.

Kara slapped her, "I've studied constellations since I was little, don't mock me, human!"

The brunette laughed genuinely, she was glad that Kara was coming back to her, "What else don't I know about you?"

She felt a shrug, "What's this, twenty questions?"

"Why not? We can each ask each other something and then, if we want to, we can answer it ourselves after."

"You go first, Lane."

"How many languages do you speak fluently?"

"Nine."

"What?" Lucy gasped, "I'm jealous, I can only speak two..."

"Spanish and English, right?"

"Yeah, what about you?"

"Daxamese, English, Dheronese, Vrang, Almerac, Martian, Rinoti, Thanagarian, and Kryptonese."

Lucy frowned, "You're _so_ intelligent, Kara! I mean, I always knew you were, but I had no idea..."

"I've always enjoyed learning, and since my parents were pretty much an integral part of the government, I had some opportunities to expand my horizons. So, _technically_ , I was royalty."

"Wow," the brunette chuckled, "I've never met nobility before, let alone a _princess_."

Kara scrunched her nose at the title, "Don't call me that. I'm pretty much queen now."

The blonde's voice suddenly faltered at the memory of Krypton, her face solemn.

Lucy seemed to notice and diverted her friend's attention back to reality, "Hmmm...when did you last sing?"

"Right now!" Kara voiced, a melody so soothing to the ears, "Okay, my turn. Your house, which has everything you own, catches on fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you can go back and save one item. What would it be?"

"My sweater," Lucy replied nonchalantly.

"That was quick. And isn't that thing a tad bit over-sized for you?" the blonde inquired, looking at the said sweatshirt the brunette was wearing.

"I _love_ over-sized tops."

"I can't argue with that."

"So, would you rather be twice as smart or twice as happy?"

"Twice as happy," the blonde quickly answered.

Lucy was surprised with the lack of hesitation, "Why? You're probably the happiest person I've ever met."

Kara gave a solemn smile, "I get that a lot. Most of the time I am."

Then she remembered Krypton. Her family, her friends, the next door neighbor, the different dialects, the traditions, the culture, the technology...then she remembered being sent to Earth and the struggle to adapt to a new environment and learn new languages, technologies, cultures, traditions, and animals; not to mention the confusing political processes of the human race and their different views on love especially, how such trivial matters could drive even the greatest of people into madness and initiate wars that left the land barren and desolate. She remembered the burden that her happy memories of Krypton held against her, how often at night it used to weigh down and crush her to the point where her chest ached and she could barely breathe. She remembered the many nights of crying herself to sleep on a strange planet as a strange child.

She snapped out of her thoughts, shaking them out of her head and spoke, "What happened the last time you cried?"

Lucy laughed, "I barely remember. That was _ages_ ago."

"Yeah," Kara chuckled, "I don't really see you as a crier. I'm one heck of a crybaby though."

"I can see that," then the brunette pondered, "I think...the last time I cried was when I was in the Army."

The blonde decided not to probe any further; if Lucy had wanted to disclose the reason why, she would have done it.

It was the soldier's turn to reminisce about her days of service, only a few positions short of becoming the next general before her mental breakdown and parting ways with it; so many subordinates she had to lead, dead, some dying under her orders or in her arms. She shuddered at the memory. Sure, she may have saved lives, but she often thought that she took more than she gave, that she was the villain in her story.

"Cold?" Kara asked, piercing the brunette's thoughts, "You're shivering."

"I'm fine. Now," Lucy started, "What's a cheesy song that you have perfectly memorized?"

" _A Thousand Years_ by Christina Perri."

Lucy arched a brow, "That was awfully quick. You a fan of _Twilight_?"

The blonde cringed, "No, I heard it on the radio. I don't know, I just love the idea of love, you know?"

"Don't worry, Kara, I'm a hopeless romantic myself," the brunette chuckled.

"Okay, Luce, what's the first thing you'd do if you were a man for one day?"

"Helicopter."

"Okay, _that_ answer was quick. And ew."

"What?" Lucy protested, "Are you telling me that you're not curious? Like, having an extra appendage there seems pretty weird to me."

"Gross."

"Oh," the soldier teased, "So you prefer the _other_ thing."

Kara tilted her head, "What other – _oh_. N-no, I just..."

"It's okay, next question: what scares you the most?"

_Losing people; Eliza, Alex...you..._

The Kryptonian refrained from speaking her thoughts, "Sharks. I don't like them."

"Why? Don't tell me it's because of _Jaws_."

"Um..."

"Oh my God, you do know that hippos and elephants kill more people, right?"

"I know that statistically, but sharks are just creepy. I mean, as much as I love being Supergirl, you're on your own if a shark comes your way. Just saying."

"How rude!" Lucy gasped, slapping Kara's arm.

"Sorry..." the hero flushed, "So, if you could learn another language. What would it be?"

The brunette whispered to herself, "Kryptonese..."

It was so quiet that Kara barely picked it up, even with her super hearing, but once it registered, her brows furrowed, "W-Why?"

_Because on your bad nights I hear you, that sad voice speaking in that foreign tongue...probably about your home._

Lucy ignored the thought, "It's an _alien_ language? Why not?"

The Kryptonian's laughter threw her head back, "I can just hear that terrible accent already!"

"Okay, stop mocking me. If you could choose your last words, what would they be?"

"El mayarah," Kara nodded slowly, thoughtfully, thinking of the soft embrace of Rao's light and her mother reaching out to her to bring her to the other side.

"What does it mean?"

"Stronger together," the blonde beamed through the darkness, though she was positive that she would die alone, some place abandoned while she was attempting to eliminate an alien threat, "Would you rather live in the woods or the city?"

"Woods. I'm not very fond of people, or at least too many of them."

"Really? I'm the exact opposite! I love meeting new people!"

Lucy fought the urge to frown. Sometimes she could not understand that aspect of Kara, she understood the desire to meet new people, but never her tendency to see the good in everyone and to trust so easily, especially after what she had been through.

"So, Supergirl, if a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future, or anything else, what would you want to know?"

"These questions are just getting deeper and deeper," Kara laughed. It took a moment, but she finally came up with an answer and furrowed her eyebrows, "I guess...I guess I'd want to know how I'd die..."

Lucy inhaled and held the oxygen in for a moment before letting it out with an exhale, "Do you...have a hunch about how you'll die?"

The brunette could see the silhouette's head shake side to side, "No. Not really. But it's probably either going to be because I tried to cook or because I was out saving the world."

The Kryptonian's attempt to lighten the mood was successful, both of them chuckling with delight at the memory of their cooking fiasco.

"That was a disaster," Lucy scoffed.

"Your turn, Lane. Same crystal ball question."

The agent contemplated for a minute, "Perhaps, who I'm going to end up with, and whether or not I'd be happy about it..."

Kara's heart ached, "Do you...have someone...in mind?"

Lucy sighed and decided to be honest, "Yeah... Yeah, I do..."

The blonde decided not to pry any further, "Don't worry about that. You'll find someone. You deserve to be happy."

Lucy stopped with the questions, assuming Kara still had a thing for James.

Their backs faced one another, indicating it was time for sleep.

"Goodnight, Kara."

"Night, Lucy."

They could feel it, their hearts clenched and their chests tightened, with bitterness, with jealousy. They let the night wind blow against them, enveloping them in coldness. But little did they know that the one person they were thinking about was each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	4. Encephalon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the process of protecting National City and balancing that with their daily lives, the pair come to find that the villain behind the escapees seems to be the mastermind of a more sinister plot.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Encephalon

* * *

Drip.

Kara flinched.

_Water?_

Drip.

She opened her eyes and yawned, shaking the woman beside her, "Lucy, I think it's raining, we should get going."

The brunette groaned, reluctantly sitting up and rubbing her tired eyes.

Abruptly, it began pouring, causing the women to yelp, scrambling to gather the blankets and returning to the car.

Lucy attempted to start it.

"Shit!"

"What?"

"Battery's dead."

"Seriously?" Kara groaned, "I have an idea, forget the car, get out, and lock it."

The brunette did as she was told, "I don't really want to walk all the way home in the rain, it's miles from here."

"Not walking."

Before she could ask the blonde to elaborate, there was a gust of wind and suddenly they were high up in the air.

"Ah!" Lucy fidgeted in the Kryptonian's grasp.

"Do you want to fall?" Kara asked rhetorically, her rip tightening.

The soldier's eyes shut in fright, "Put me down! I'd rather walk!"

The blonde decelerated, "Hey...I won't let you fall."

Her voice held such gentility it beckoned the brunette to open her eyes. Kara's bright azure orbs were filled with such kindness and certainty that Lucy relaxed. She could gaze into that sea of blue for eternity, then she pressed her ear against Kara's chest, the both of them listening to their hearts beat as one.

"I trust you, Supergirl."

She received a scintillating smile in return, the grin was so bright it outmatched the sun, and it made Lucy's heart skip a beat.

* * *

They were soaking wet by the time they reached the apartment.

Kara swiftly set Lucy on the ground through her window, but remained floating in the air out in the rain, still within arm's reach.

"Not coming in, Supergirl?"

"Nah, I enjoy the rain."

"What if someone sees you?"

Before the human could bat an eye, she was suddenly carrying Kara's clothes, then looked up to see the alien in her super suit, striking a pose.

The brunette shook her head, "You're ridiculous."

"But in a cute way, right?" she winked.

"Why of course."

Silence ensued.

They just stayed there, appreciating one another's company.

Both of their chests ached, yearning for each other as they stared into one another's eyes. The rain drowning out their desire.

A ring buzzed from the heap of clothes Lucy carried, she sifted through the cloth, putting the phone on speaker, "Alex?"

"Director Lane? Where's Kara?"

"She's right next to me."

"Hey, sis," Kara greeted happily.

"Guys, you have to evacuate now."

"What, why? We just got home."

"Kara, Lucy, I can't give you guys the details right now, there's not much time, so get out of there as fast as you can."

"W-What's going on?"

"Just listen to me! You know those three aliens that escaped? We've managed to locate them, but we failed to capture. However, we're tracking them right now and they're right on top of you!"

The roommates looked at each other and nodded.

Supergirl looked to her side and saw a speck that was approaching them, but before she could do anything a weight slammed down her back with such force that the impact caused the concrete ground to shatter.

"Kara!" Lucy called out, rushing down the stairs, pushing through the crowd of panicked civilians.

_Wow, she really meant right on top of me._

The blonde stood up and cracked her back, face to face with a rather large golem, a humanoid, and the flying creature that hurt Lucy.

_Damn, I'm outnumbered._

A shot rang out, followed by a small explosion, hitting the humanoid square in the jaw, "You mess with her, you mess with me!" The barrage of bullets and booms continued, pausing once in a while for her to reload the explosive magazine.

However, though the aliens were irked, they were fixated on Supergirl.

The flyer swooped down, but Kara's heat vision took it out with one hit, "Next!"

This time, the golem charged head first right into the hero, sending her flying through a building.

The humanoid, however, decided to go after Lucy, and unfortunately for her, it was impenetrable to bullets.

The brunette ran out of ammo and threw the gun as hard as she could, it met its target, and it stumbled.

 _Well, that seems to be more effective_.

She raised her fists, switching her fighting stance, and taunted the alien, "Come on, let's do this the old fashioned way why don't we?"

The organism said something in a foreign language, then swung at her. Its blows, very powerful, but its movement, extremely sluggish. Lucy could definitely get out of this fight in one piece.

Supergirl, on the other hand, was not doing so well; she was being thrown all over the place like a ragdoll. Finally, she regained her bearings, pinning the golem down and swinging at its head repeatedly, watching as its stone face crumbled into little pebbles. However, she failed to notice the flying creature returning for vengeance.

"Kara, look out!" Lucy warned, but it was too late, the blonde was lifted off high up in the sky and dropped towards the golem, which swung at Kara like a baseball bat, sending her across the street filled with fleeing civilians.

It was only after the crowd cleared that Kara heard a beeping sound. There was a green spherical contraption attached to her abdomen, which continued to beep faster and faster, its blinking light speeding up according to the sound.

Lucy glanced away from her defeated enemy, noticing that the incessant beeping had suddenly halted and the device ceased to light.

They both held their breaths. Then...

 _Boom_.

A plume of green smoke surrounded Kara.

"Wha..." she took a breath. Huge mistake, and suddenly she was staring up into the dull, gray sky, barely feeling the rain drops on the surface of her skin.

Lucy darted away, and saw from afar that Supergirl had collapsed onto the ground squirming, convulsing in agony. By that time, the D.E.O. had finally arrived for backup.

It was highly concentrated Kryptonite gas. Kara felt trapped, her mouth opened in a silent scream, her eyes rolling to the back of her head; its toxicity was so potent it ravaged through her body, torturously crippling her systems.

Eventually, Supergirl stopped struggling, suffocating in the noxious fumes, her head cloudy, her vision fuzzy. She felt someone grab her arms and pull her out of the area. Finally, the Kryptonian sucked in some oxygen, but she could still feel the intense burning in her lungs. Then a face appeared, Lucy's face, it was blurry but she knew, she could recognize her from miles away. The brunette was shouting, but Kara could not hear anything except for a painful ringing. She could feel a thick liquid coming out from her eyes, nose, and ears, then she coughed, feeling blood build up in the back of her throat.

The last thing she saw was Alex's worried face before blacking out.

Lucy was in hysterics after Kara lost consciousness, caressing her face and shouting "don't do this to me".

"We need a med evac stat!" Alex spoke into her earpiece, "Do you copy? Supergirl has been exposed to Kryptonite gas, we have to purge it!"

The Lane was stroking the bloodied blonde hair, tears streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto Kara's face, mixing with the rain. Her chorus of pleas were not reaching.

Eventually her mouth overflew with the crimson liquid as well.

"Flip her onto her side or else she'll choke!" Alex ordered, her eyes swollen and reddened with tears. She helped Lucy tip her over, then flipped her back. There was so much red pooling beneath them.

She was dying.

"Kara! Listen to me!" Lucy sobbed, cupping the blonde's bloodied face, "If you die on me I swear to God I won't let you bring pizza or donuts in ever again, and I'll eat all of your potstickers and ice cream goddamn you! I don't care if it's your apartment!"

The panicked soldier rested her head against the dying woman, her voice cracked and dwindled into harsh whispers, "Please, please, please, not you..."

Lucy stiffened, Kara was deathly cold and had a pale complexion, and on top of that she was not breathing. The Director placed her index and middle finger against the blonde's neck, where the pulse should be.

Should be.

Only there was none.

She lost whatever was left of her sanity.

"Shit!" Lucy cursed, placing her hands in the center of the chest, right on top of the emblem, "She's not breathing, there's no pulse!"

Alex covered her mouth in shock, speaking into her earpiece, "Med evac, what the hell is your status!"

The compressions started, Lucy prayed to the heavens that it would help, but she could barely move the girl of steel even a centimeter.

"E.T.A. five minutes!" Alex stated.

"We don't _have_ five minutes, agent!"

The older Danvers lowered her voice, "Then you better pray that they come in three."

She continued, backing away, "In the meantime, we're going to try and revive Kara, I'm going to find an A.E.D., keep the compressions."

Lucy resumed, the pushing was beginning to become very taxing, emotionally and physically. Her mental state was in shambles as she glanced back and forth from Supergirl's pale, lifeless face and to her own bloodied, sweaty hands. Her mind was losing hope, and resuscitation was definitely out of the question, especially with weak equipment such as an A.E.D. against a Kryptonian physiology.

Finally, Alex arrived with the compact machine. She pulled out her pistol first and shot it at the concrete floor beneath her.

"What are you doing, agent?"

"Trying to save Kara's life. We need Kryptonite to cut through that suit, the material was altered to protect her from the material, but none at this high of a concentration," the Danvers explained, picking up the green shard from the ground, slicing through the cloth. The older Danvers ripped open the suit to reveal her ribs and midriff. She then placed the wire on her chest and the other on the side of her ribs.

"Clear!" A shock traveled from the gadget into Supergirl's body, and they repeated the process about three times with no success before the medical team arrived to take her away.

* * *

Alex and Lucy rode on a separate helicopter after the trauma, they were the only two on board; Agent Danvers was speechless, glancing blankly into the metal wall of the chopper. As for Lucy, she had no words as well, staring intently at her shaking, bloodied hands.

It was Kara's blood.

It sickened Lucy, made her feel nauseous, and she let a few tears drip onto her palms.

There was a static sound, "This is the captain of the chopper speaking. Director Henshaw has a message."

The passenger held out a miniature monitor, which held live footage of J'onn.

"I have some new intel."

Alex was the first to look up, "What?"

"The beings that you fought...a Keres, flying creature, a simple brain like that of a goldfish. A golem, all brawns and no brain. And a humanoid, though more intelligent than the rest, not the leader of the pack. Someone else plotted the escape of the aliens at H.Q., they must have tipped them off about Supergirl's weakness to Kryptonite, and developed a very advanced weapon for them to use."

"But...who would..." then it occurred to Alex, "Maxwell Lord?"

"A possibility."

"Lex Luthor?" Lucy suggested.

"Also plausible. We're currently investigating the suspects, but acquiring information on them requires...subtlety and finesse. However, we did find that Lex Luthor was bribed out of prison in secret, coincidentally, the same day that the aliens escaped."

Lucy glared past her bloodied hands, then clenched them into fists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	5. Sting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Lucy discover game-changing information.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: SOME MILD VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Sting

* * *

Lucy had been staring at the same monitor for thirty minutes, her position on the waiting chair next to Kara's hospital bed never changing, watching closely as the jagged lines moved up and down and occasionally stuttered. Not to mention the rhythmic beeping coinciding with the visual data.

The wait was maddening. It had been around five days and the doctors have not found the right time to release her from her induced coma for the final surgeries.

The soldier could only stand by as her friend was attached to numerous wires; it was the breathing tube shoved down her throat that bothered Lucy the most though. Of all her years in the Army she had especially learned that the equipment indicated that the patient was unable to maintain breathing on their own; Kara's respiratory system had nearly failed, one of her lungs collapsed.

Lucy had forgotten the rest of the details and was driven to ask yet again what her condition was.

"Dr. Hamilton? Can you please repeat the details of Supergirl's medical report? I'm sorry, I missed it the first time."

"That's no problem at all, Director Lane," the doctor reassured, lifting the clipboard from the desk tray beside her and holding it a few inches from her face, eyes scanning the document, "We'll start from head to toe, and that being said, the majority of her injuries are quite concerning to be frank with you."

Lucy's face fell at the last sentence.

Dr. Hamilton felt sorry for her, but she was not able to sugarcoat things, it was better to prepare the loved ones than to give false hope, "Meningitis; her brain and spinal cords are inflamed, swollen, and would have been potentially life threatening if we hadn't reduced it. A significant portion of her muscles had deteriorated by the time she got here due to the cell degenerative properties of Kryptonite, particularly within her torso, which collapsed her left lung. She also developed symptoms of infection, which we found peculiar since most of the damage was internal, so we concluded that the Kryptonite was infused with some other element that's just as toxic."

The doctor sighed, "It seems the other ingredient increased the sensitivity of her pain receptors. Though she may be unconscious, the creator clearly went out of his or her way to make sure that Supergirl would suffer regardless of whether she was awake or not. We lost her on the operation table three times due to organ failure. She's lucky the gas didn't melt her vitals into mush, and that her brain is still active. She's quite the living miracle at the moment."

Lucy was utterly dejected, and Dr. Hamilton proceeded to crouch to her level, "Director Lane, we're going to do everything in our power to save Supergirl."

The brunette nodded and attempted to give a grin, which ended up morphing into a wry smile.

* * *

"Our target is Maxwell Lord?" Alex asked incredulously.

"Yes, but don't eliminate him, if anything, don't attempt to directly engage," J'onn specified, "We're conducting a sting operation, we have to keep a close eye and witness him commit any crime that gives us the slightest reasonable doubt that he was involved with sending those aliens to Supergirl."

"Do you think he's the one?"

J'onn sighed, "Maybe. We don't know for sure, but he certainly has the wealth to develop such a weapon, and so does Lex Luthor, whom we're still trying to gather intel on."

"Location?"

"Lord Towers," Director Henshaw answered, "The debriefing is that you both are going into his office, which is at the topmost floor. He'll be conducting a meeting with some unknown contacts within two weeks. You're going to need to acquire a passkey for floor twenty-two from one of the security guards to access it. Plant a whisper chip in one of the vents and be sure to turn off the air conditioning systems."

J'onn dropped a small device the size of a thumb onto Alex's hand and continued, "To do that, one of you has to infiltrate the main security office located on floor six. I'll leave the assigning of the tasks up to you two."

"Do we have any idea on what this upcoming project might be?" Lucy asked.

"No, but we'll notify you when we gather more information, and hopefully it'll be relatively linked to the incident. Do you need me to clarify anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Then you're both free to move out."

* * *

"You know," Alex breathed, crawling through the cramped ventilation shaft, "I regret saying that I wanted to plant the bug. I should've gotten the passkey instead. It's really cold in here, what's your status on the security room?"

Lucy grunted, dragging an unconscious guard's body into a hidden area, "Kind of busy at the moment, but I'm working on it. Give me five."

From the corner of her eye she spotted four other guards coming her way, "Ummm...maybe ten."

The brunette dropped an electric mine and carefully pulled out her stun gun, obscured within the dark security room, and held her breath.

"Fine. You do have the knock-out weapons, right?" Alex groaned, continuing to worm her way through the steel space until she reached her destination. She heard what sounded like a spark in the other line, a muffled gunshot, and what seemed to be some scuffling, "Lane? Do you copy?"

"Shit," Lucy heaved, tossing the four other limp bodies with the other guard, ripping some cloth from part of her sleeve to wrap it around her bleeding hand. The bullet tore right through her palm, "Yeah, these guys probably won't remember a thing when they wake up."

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Agent Danvers," the brunette lied, deactivating the ventilation shafts and sifting through the cabinets for any useful files, "You can go ahead and plant the chip."

"On it," Alex whispered, sticking the tiny device near the opening. She could see through the metal slits that the billionaire was cloaked in a dusty gray silk suit, complemented with an emerald tie. He was prepping for his upcoming meeting.

"Danvers, we've got to go," Lucy started, "If we stay any longer we might get caught."

"Hold on, I'm coming."

As the younger Lane sorted through the drawers she encountered a physical discrepancy, there was a hidden latch at the very back, which she lifted to reveal files that were labeled as classified.

"Agent Danvers..."

"What's up, Director?"

"I think I've found something," Lucy mumbled, rushing out and walking through a group of tourists and into the passenger seat of their vehicle.

"I'm at the entrance, on route to your location. What is it?"

"The guest list for the meeting."

Lucy heard the door click open and jumped, but breathed a sigh of relief when it was Alex that plopped onto the driver's seat, starting the engine and wheeling away, "So who's invited?"

* * *

J'onn displayed the listed people onto the headboard of the H.Q. in the D.E.O., the first on the slideshow was none other than the billionaire that they were all too familiar with, "Maxwell Lord IV, C.E.O. of Lord Industries, richest man in National City, and devoted to eradicating the presence of aliens and metahumans. In addition, he's supposedly the head of Project Cadmus according to this document, an experimental facility with the same policies as him."

The next photo showed a portrait of an older man with unruly blonde hair who was clad in a gunmetal tuxedo, "Noah Kuttler from Star City, also known as the Calculator, is a computer genius, expert strategist, and has access to high tech gear and loyal criminal contacts."

The following image depicted a young soldier, seemingly in his late twenties, "This is Ulysses Armstrong from Gotham, known primarily as the General. He's a psychopath, military historian, and genius tactician who specializes in hand-to-hand combat, small arms, and creation and use of explosive materials."

A man in his late fifties or early sixties appeared on the board, he was bald but had silver sideburns, a thick beard, and he wore bifocals and a charcoal suit and tie, "Hugo Strange from Gotham, an intellect trained in psychology, chemistry, and biology."

"This one," J'onn began as the screen slid over to show a burly forty-year-old man with short, red-orange hair swept with gel to the back of his head, "is Thomas Elliot from Gotham, alias is Hush. He's an intellect as well, also being a skilled world-class surgeon with mastery in all aspects of the medical sciences, along with being a master of disguise via plastic surgery. He's a brilliant strategist and tactician with peak physical conditioning, allowing him to develop skilled hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship."

"Sandra Woosan," the screen exhibited a middle-aged woman with long, jet black hair and a trench coat, "She's known by many names, but primarily as Lady Shiva. She's a martial arts grandmaster and an assassin-for-hire, notorious for being able to anticipate anything that comes towards her. She's also able to reduce physical pain to nothing in a fight."

A familiar man with wavy, long, and unruly dirty blonde locks framing his face flashed onto the headboard, "Alexander Luthor, most notably, Lex Luthor of LexCorp. Billionaire, business magnate, inventor, scientist, philanthropist, and the richest man in the city of Metropolis. He's a megalomaniac with an insatiable thirst for power, and he's conducted many illegal activities, but being a great donator to Metropolis, he's been able to avoid arrest."

The next slide showed a short, stocky old man with a penchant for top hats, tuxedoes, and bowties, "Jervis Tetch from Gotham, or the Mad Hatter, has great intellect, is a trained neuroscientist, and has both created and utilized mind-control technology."

"Ahem," J'onn coughed, clearly all the talking was wearing him down, then proceeded to the next guest; he was very short and overweight, and he wore a top hat and suit complemented with a cane; his fingers looked deformed, as if they were stuck together, "Oswald Cobblepot, also dubbed the Penguin. He's a mobster and a criminal mastermind."

Another image revealed a tall, lanky man with light brown hair swept to the side, "Edward Nigma, or the Riddler. An expert tactician and strategist, he's also a mastermind of complex puzzles and riddles. He's narcissistic, histrionic, and an obsessive-compulsive egomaniac."

An average young-looking man with glasses and longer brown hair framing his facial features followed, "Dr. Jonathan Crane is known as the Scarecrow. He's a gifted psychologist and biochemist, specializing in psychological warfare with his infamous fear gas, which he's immune to. Not bad with firearms either."

"This is Harvey Dent, or more famously Two-Face for obvious reasons," a man with a partly scarred skull was in the next image in a white tuxedo, "He was a former lawyer with a schizoid disorder. After an indirect encounter with the Joker destroyed half of his face, he resorted to being a criminal mastermind and detective with skills in hand-to-hand combat and expert marksmanship."

"Slade Wilson," Director Henshaw started, gesturing towards the picture of a man in a black and orange body suit, "Or Deathstroke. Former high ranking military soldier in the Army, proficient in several languages, expert hand-to-hand combatant, master of melee weapons, skilled marksman, superhuman abilities, and missing his right eye. He's been alternating locations among Gotham, New York, Metropolis, and New Jersey, most likely due to his job as a hitman."

A disturbing photo of a bald, lean man with tally marks all over his body appeared, "Victor Zsasz from Gotham. He's a serial killer and is known to be extremely cunning and very unpredictable, with the strength and agility of the best Olympian competitor out there. He counts all of his kills by carving marks into his body."

J'onn sighed, "Not only that, there seems to be ambassadors of Project Cadmus attending, as well as delegates representing organized crime families; Falcone, Maroni, Odessa, and several other gang factions."

Lucy sat up, her attitude was impatient and rushed, "We can't just sit here, we have to do something! This is bigger than we thought! Half of Gotham City's villains don't just travel to National City for a meeting with a 'simple' project. What the hell is Lord planning?"

Director Henshaw raised his hand up to pause the young woman, "We don't even know what they're up to, and if you're thinking about crashing the meeting you're being absolutely ludicrous. _Everyone_ in there has served for committing _federal_ crimes, most of them are mentally disturbed and trained mercenaries - professional _killers_. We don't even know if Lord is behind all of this. Bruce Wayne is the richest man in the world and even his billions upon billions of dollars wouldn't convince notorious supervillains and gangs to cooperate. Either it's someone with more money, which I highly doubt, or it's influence."

Alex jumped in, "From what I've read in the files, the majority of them were 'bailed' out of their prison sentences early, spanning within one week, a handful of them released on the same days. According to the law, we need reasonable doubt, and I think that's enough evidence to conduct an investigation."

Lucy added, "There were also blueprints for several different weapons that contained _Kryptonite_ and other alien elements. There's enough proof right there."

"You two, listen," J'onn grew frustrated and rubbed his forehead, "You're both being perfectly reasonable, but that doesn't change the fact that it's _completely ridiculous_ to go after these felons; they don't have to even resist arrest if they're all in it together; do you know how much wealth has been accumulated if gangs, crime families, LexCorp, and Lord Industries worked together? They could bribe all of the police stations in the nation and even the federal government. This battle needs to be carefully planned."

"This isn't a battle anymore," Lucy mumbled, "This is war."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	6. Fighter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara's recovery is inhibited by a few obstacles which effects Alex and Lucy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Fighter

* * *

Lucy hissed, the burning pain of the ointment melding into her open wound.

"You should've said something," Alex scolded sternly, reaching for a piece of gauze to re-wrap the injured woman's palm, "You let this fester and now it's infected."

The brunette attempted to stretch her fingers, barely, "I'm fine, Agent Danvers. There are more important things to worry about."

"You're very stubborn, you know that? A lot like Kara; you both are sometimes so concerned with different matters, typically other people, that you neglect your own health, so it renders you less effective with your goals."

"That's a nice way of saying that I've outlived my usefulness," Lucy scoffed, then she frowned at the mention of her close friend.

Alex was momentarily speechless, and realized that the topic of her little sister was taboo to them both.

"Hey...it's going to be fine, she's strong and she'll get through this," the older Danvers gave a forced smile, for even she was unsure herself, "It's only been a week since the incident, we can't expect her to just be up and flying around, the attack was..."

"I understand, Alex..." Lucy mumbled.

The older Danvers was slightly shocked when she referred to her by her first name, and she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Lucy...I know we just came back from the sting operation, but Dr. Hamilton notified me that Kara was available for visiting hours in the med bay. They've stopped injecting her with morphine."

The brunette's face became a little more solemn.

"Is something wrong?"

Lucy hesitated, her voice lightly cracking, "I...I can't look at Kara the way she is right now. It just reminds me how I...I wasn't able to help her."

Alex's eyes shifted into a more forlorn shape, "But you _did_ save her. If she'd spent even one more second in the fumes, she'd probably be..."

She trailed off and the sentence was left unfinished.

Lucy took in a shaky breath, "I think I'm going to check up on her then. Thank you, Agent Danvers."

"No problem, Director Lane," Alex assured.

_She really does care about Kara..._

The brunette waved an awkward goodbye and proceeded down the hall into the hospital sector, scanning the room numbers until she found the one she was looking for and cautiously creaked the door open.

Kara laid in the same position on her bed, the same wires and tubes protruding out of her skin with various biological samples set aside on a metal tray. The once strong and righteous Kryptonian was rendered into a fragile body due to the poisonous element. She noticeably lost weight as her eyes and cheeks were more sunken in.

Lucy sat next to the patient and held her hand firmly, feeling the smooth and cold skin against her fingertips. She scrutinized her surroundings for around twenty minutes before deciding to leave. As she was about to let go of her grip, she felt Kara's thumb twitch and brush against the back of her uninjured palm.

The brunette held her breath and finally noticed that the young blonde was stirring from her slumber. Lucy sat down again, closer, and stared more intently at Kara's face; her eyes opened slightly to reveal a hint of sea blue, but then they squinted at the bright lights.

As the Kryptonian's vision stabilized, her pupils settled onto the expectant grip on her hand, which traveled up to meet a pair of deep emerald eyes.

"L-Lu...cy..." Kara managed to get a few syllables out and winced, "You...okay? Y-Your...hand..."

"I'm fine, _you're_ the one everyone is worried sick about," the brunette laughed uneasily, but happy that the young hero was awake.

"It...hurts," she grimaced, clenching the bed sheets in pain.

Lucy suddenly recalled that Alex had said they stopped with the morphine, so it was likely they resorted to weaker narcotics.

Kara's abrupt coughing fit interrupted her thoughts, and it alarmed her so she pressed the button to notify her specialist, "Take it easy, don't move around too much. I just called in your nurse."

The blonde struggled to breathe, but managed to grunt out, "My...chest..."

The Kryptonian refused to scream, she couldn't really shout anyway, but Lucy knew from the doctor's notes and Kara's warped facial expression and increasing trembles that she was in excruciating agony.

The nurse rushed into the room right as the machines indicated that the patient's vitals were skyrocketing, "I'll get Dr. Hamilton!"

Lucy was panicking and began to caress Kara's cheeks in an attempt to calm her down, "Kara? Kara! Listen to me!"

The blonde was unable to though, as the pain diminished her ability to listen to the outside world, which became muffled gibberish. Her breathing was erratic and she continued to give intervals of painful groans. The hyperventilation caused her vision to begin to blur, and her adrenaline hyped up as she attempted to rise from her bed, struggling as Lucy futilely tried to keep her pinned down.

"Get away from me!" In Kara's panic, she shoved the brunette with so much force that the soldier soared through the air and collided with the window, causing it to crack. The throw left her breathless and it took her a few seconds to recompose herself.

The Kryptonian realized what she had done, "I'm so sorry," and she moved to stand to help her friend. However, once she stepped foot onto the polished floor, she collapsed clutching her chest tightly, finally letting out a scream, "Get it out! Make it stop!"

She continued to repeat the mantra as she tore into the middle of her gown to reveal that the arteries around her sternum were glowing a dim green. Upon closer inspection, the supposed Kryptonite continued to near her heart, startling Lucy.

The doctors rushed in and hurriedly placed the crazed patient back onto her bed.

"Restrain her!" Dr. Hamilton ordered, looking over to see that Kara's brainwaves were off the charts, "Her brain activity indicates that she's experiencing hallucinations! Get her sedated! And get Director Lane out of here!"

She was escorted away from the area and into the check-up room.

* * *

Lucy's eyes followed the ray of the flashlight as it moved side-to-side.

"A minor concussion, you should recover from it relatively quickly with D.E.O. technology. Personally, though, I would be more cautious if you're ever dispatched on another mission within the week."

"We've released her from her induced coma about three hours ago," Dr. Hamilton stated, leaning against the door frame, "She should be waking up soon."

"How soon?" Lucy whispered.

"Be patient, Director Lane. Her exposure to the Kryptonite has potential to cause permanent damage, even _I'm_ not sure if the solar energy is going to do much, but it's a start."

The brunette let out a large sigh, clearly distressed.

"I do think though, that she'll make close to a full recovery once we remove the probes."

"Probes?"

"They were engineered and intermingled within the gas. They attracted the Kryptonite like magnets. Very advanced technology, and the probes targeted her heart once she woke up, luckily we were able to cut off the signal so now the leftover gas lingers in her muscles. However, some of the Kryptonite did manage to reach her heart vessels."

A pause.

"Also, the metal of the sphere that contained the alien element...our research team has determined it to be man-made. Created from magnesium, light as aluminum, but as strong as titanium alloys. So far, this material has the highest strength-to-weight ratio known to mankind. Maxwell Lord and Lex Luthor are the most probable suspects."

Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose before standing up, "I'll look into it."

* * *

"She's awake!" someone yelled.

The brunette could feel her heart racing as fast as she was running into Kara's assigned room. She stopped at the doorframe, nearly tripping due to her momentum.

They locked eyes, scanned each other for what seemed like forever.

Then, as always, Kara mustered up the strength to greet Lucy with a broad, shiny smile.

The brunette dashed to her side and hugged her fiercely, refusing to let go. The patient's reaction was a bit belated, but she finally wrapped her arms around the warm body, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

Lucy failed to keep in the tears as they started to pour out, "Oh my God, Kara...I was so worried."

The blonde could only afford to give her a weak groan, "I'm okay, you can stop worrying."

Her face morphed into a remorseful look, "I'm...I'm sorry about the fit I had earlier. I hurt you..."

"I'm fine, it was just a minor concussion," the brunette sighed, producing a smirk.

"I gave you a concussion?" the Kryptonian turned away and teared up.

"Kara...look at me," Lucy gently coaxed, "You were in a lot of pain and you were hallucinating. You were just trying to protect yourself."

They let go of each other and simply stared.

Silence.

"Hey..." Kara chuckled, changing the subject, "Those bags under your eyes complement the rest of your makeup really well."

Lucy ignored her and sniffed, wiping her teary face and reaching for her injured friend's fingers, "You're going to be dispatched soon."

"Yeah, I can't wait to go home and stuff my face full of potstickers," she licked her lips dreamily and gave a shimmering smile, "Where's Alex?"

"She's in her lab right now analyzing some data, want me to bring her over?"

Kara nodded as enthusiastically as she could in her condition, but instantly regretted it when a painful headache caused her to shut her eyes in pain, "Ugh..."

Lucy could not help but worry more, even though she knew that her friend would most likely be all right. She was once again reduced to a mess of words, "Do you need me to get the nurse? Or Dr. Hamilton? Do you need more narcotics? They're pretty strong painkillers though, but you're an alien so I don't think it's going to be too much of a problem. I..."

"Lucy."

"Yeah?"

Kara chuckled, "Just go get Alex."

"N-No problem. Sorry, I'm just worried still."

"I'm fine," the alien reassured.

About five minutes later, the older Danvers walked into the room followed by the brunette.

"This better be important. I was in the middle of a breakthrough with the probes."

Kara made a pouty face complemented with her puppy-dog eyes, which Lucy melted at the sight, and opened her arms wide, "Hug?"

Alex rolled her eyes and laughed, embracing her younger sister, "Yeah, I think this is more important."

Lucy grinned at the heartwarming sight and decided to leave them alone, silently walking back into her office.

The agent looked behind her back, then to her sister, "How're you two lovebirds doing?"

Kara's eyes widened and her face turned into an embarrassingly bright red hue, "Wha - 'lovebirds'?"

Alex groaned, "You can't _seriously_ be that dense?"

No, the blonde was actually quite oblivious as she tilted her head slightly to the side and arched her brows in a curious fashion, forming a puzzled look, "Uhhh..."

The auburn-haired woman stuffed her face into the pillow on top of Kara's lap and from it came a muffled scream. Then she turned her head so it faced her little sister, "Oh my God, hopeless. Just hopeless. As much credit as I give Lucy for being one of the most intelligent people I've ever met, I bet she's the same way."

It suddenly dawned on Kara what she was implying, "O-Oh, no, no, no, it's not like that. Absolutely _not_ like that. We're just really good friends."

"Well... even 'really good friends' don't gaze longingly into each other's eyes every other second. You two are absolutely disgusting."

"W-We're not a...a _thing_."

"I beg to differ."

"Besides...even if...if we were, I shouldn't be in a relationship..."

Alex's eyes took on a more serious look, "Why?"

Kara looked uncomfortable, suddenly becoming interested in her white blanket, pinching at a particular spot.

"Hey, Kara?"

"She's...she's just another person that I can lose..."

"C'mon, don't say that."

"But it's true," she said more sternly, "I can't be Supergirl _and_ have a normal relationship simultaneously. It just doesn't work. It'll _never_ work."

"I don't mean to be rude, but you haven't exactly _been_ in a relationship, so how do you know if it'll work or not?"

Kara glared at her, "I just do! Can you blame me? I don't want to think of every new friend I make as 'just another person I can lose', I really don't! But that's always the first thought I have..."

Her voice cracked as she trailed off, she shed a few tears as her older sister tenderly wiped them away, as if it was a fresh wound.

She was right, Alex really could not blame her. She's watched her own home become obliterated right in front of her eyes; her friends, her family, the postman, the neighbors...all eradicated in an excruciating explosion. She lost a culture, a life, every aspect of normalcy gone in the blink of an eye. The worst part was remembering all of it, the nightmares plagued her nearly every day when she arrived on Earth. Clark was lucky, he had no memories of Krypton, so he could not feel anything other than the melancholy of not experiencing Kryptonian culture or meeting his real parents. For Kara, the pain was hundreds of magnitudes higher.

"Don't give me that look," the blonde said, "You know I hate it."

"What look?"

"Pity."

"Sorry," Alex apologized, "I didn't realize..."

"I know, it's okay..."

"For what it's worth," the agent hesitated, "I think you should go for it."

"I thought you didn't like her?" Kara asked.

"Well, now I approve."

"Why the sudden change?"

"Not really _sudden_...I _sort of_ like her," Alex chuckled.

Kara slapped her arm playfully.

"Okay, okay. It was actually kind of during the sting operation I guess."

"Understandable."

"Quite the charmer."

"Why the 'kind of' though?"

"I realized that she really cared about you when she spent every night trying to piece together all of the evidence we collected, nonstop. I don't think I ever saw her come out of the office for bathroom breaks or food, and..."

Alex stopped, unsure if she should continue.

"And?" Kara nudged.

"She was...she was _very_ distraught after the attack, especially when you...crashed," Alex's voice cracked, "Her eyes were red and puffy the first few days of your treatment. So were mine, but it was weird for everyone; Lucy Lane _never_ lost her composure like that. Then her eyes got sunken in and baggy, I don't think she slept peacefully until the doctors were one-hundred percent sure you'd survive."

Kara's eyes became somber as she clutched the blanket of the bed, she whispered to herself, "I'm so sorry, Lucy..."

* * *

"Wow," the brunette scoffed, "You really weren't kidding when you said you wanted to stuff your face full of potstickers."

That had to have been the sixth heaping plate of dumplings already.

While Kara's mouth was full of food, she gave a slight smile and a muffled, "Nope."

Lucy took her hand, "I'm really glad you're back."

The blonde swallowed, "Hey! I need that hand to eat!"

The soldier burst out in laughter.

It has been eight days since the Kryptonian's release, and though she was recovering a little slower than usual, the fact that she was even healing was relieving to the younger Lane.

However, since the attack, Lucy's mind has been constantly nagging at her to check up on Kara, to make sure her movements were steady and not straining her, or to ensure that her heart rate and blood pressure were at normal levels. Truthfully, the worry never stopped for her, Supergirl was always out head-first into the battlefield. Her bravery and courage were very admirable, but Lucy's selfishness told her that she wanted Kara to stop saving the world so that they could enjoy a normal life together as... _friends_.

_Because that's all we'll ever be..._

The brunette's facial features morphed into a more melancholic expression, which did not go unnoticed.

"Lucy?" Kara asked, her voice had a tone of worry and comfort in it, "Is everything all right?"

"Y-Yeah...I was just wondering if...if you'd eventually make a full recovery..."

The blonde gave her a kind, reassuring smile, and tightened her grasp on the shorter woman's hand, "Even if I don't make a full recovery, I'm still alive."

"Kara...you _died_. Not just once, but _three_ times. _I_ lost you three times. _Alex_ lost you three times. I don't think I can go through that again."

The brunette felt another warm hand creep over hers and looked up to see Kara's creased forehead and furrowed eyebrows.

"It's okay, I'll be more careful from now on."

"But what good is that going to do? What if you meet your match?" Lucy countered, "What if..."

"Then I'll die," Supergirl simply stated, "I'll go down fighting."

The brunette retracted her hand and took a deep breath, trying to control the ache that resided within her chest.

"Cheer up, buttercup," Kara said, walking over towards the radio to turn it on, then floating back to the dining table.

The Lane's elbows rested on her knees, head hanging down.

"Hey..." a perky, dramatic voice said, tilting the soldier's face up, "Dance with me, Lucy Lane."

A hand was held out, an invitation for her to join.

" _You_ know how to dance?"

She laughed, "Nah, I've got two left feet. I was thinking you could just tease my dancing skills."

"Well, luckily for you, _I_ know how to dance."

"Then show me some of your moves," Kara quirked her brow, then wiggled the both of them.

"I would love to," the brunette winked, taking her hand and placing the other on her shoulder, "Hand on my hip, Supergirl."

The Kryptonian gulped, she swore her heart was beating out of her chest at their intertwining fingers.

Then they spun, the skilled dancer taking the lead, "One and two and three and don't step there, Kara."

"S-Sorry," she stammered, stumbling about.

"No, your foot goes here, then there. Left, right, left, right, okay stop. You really do suck at dancing..." Lucy snickered, "Ow, that's my foot."

The brunette continued to gracefully twirl, her finesse and flexibility impressing her partner.

"And...dip."

The blonde was caught off guard and her friend fell flat onto the ground, she gasped, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"I trusted you!" she lamented.

"I'm just not cut out for..." the Kryptonian suddenly clutched her chest and collapsed onto the floor, panting harshly, "Ugh."

"Kara!" Lucy panicked, though she knew that her friend would still feel painful heart palpitations the first few weeks of recovery, she was never prepared for their impeccable timings.

The blonde struggled to breathe as her chest felt like it was tightening and falling in on itself. Lucy picked the injured woman up and supported her to the bedroom, where she laid her down and gave her medication.

Then she felt a vibration in her pocket, and removed her cell phone from her bottoms, "J'onn – er, Director Henshaw?"

"Director Lane, you and Supergirl need to report to the D.E.O. immediately."

"What's the matter?"

"We have new intel on a possible suspect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	7. Reconnaissance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thinking they have a lead, Alex and Lucy are dispatched in an infiltration unit together, targeting one of LexCorp's facilities. While they strengthen their bond, Kara is assigned out of the field and therefore out of harm's way, thanks to Director Lane. However, the question is whether or not the mission will succeed.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: ANGST AND VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Reconnaissance

* * *

"Espionage?" Kara repeated.

"Exactly," J'onn nodded, "Alex. Director Lane. You two are leading an infiltration unit into one of LexCorp's facilities; that's where he's continuing the manufacture of Kryptonite weapons and other tools of destruction according to the meeting they adjourned. Your jobs are to extract as much relevant information as possible."

"What about me?" the blonde inquired.

"The squadron is waiting approximately five miles south outside of the building. And Supergirl, at the request of Director Lane and Dr. Hamilton, you won't be participating with the covert ops unit."

"What!" Kara nearly shouted, glaring at Lucy.

"We can't afford to lose an asset like you, Supergirl," the brunette replied calmly, "You're also still recovering."

"I'm perfectly fine!" Kara protested, but then proved herself wrong when she flinched from her chest pain.

"She's right," Alex chimed in, "I think our team will suffice. After all, it's only a reconnaissance mission, and this facility's security is not as tight as the others."

The blonde growled, giving up, she knew when she was defeated.

"However, Supergirl," J'onn elaborated, "You'll be floating outside of the fortress at all times to ensure there won't be anything or anyone possibly compromising this mission. Understood?"

She crossed her arms and exhaled through her nostrils, "Alright. Fine."

"You're all dismissed."

* * *

"Come on, people. Let's move, move, move those asses," Alex ordered, strapping her silenced assault rifle to her back and turning on her night vision, "Tsung, get the entrance."

The agent nodded, attaching a device on the lock and deactivating it.

"Director Lane," Alex called, gesturing towards her and the door, "Get on my six. Everyone else, get into two groups of three. The first team to go in will cover the first floor. Second team can scour the next. My partner and I will take the third. Murdock, you'll remain near the entrance to toggle their security systems. Move out and locate as much evidence as you can."

Agent Danvers entered, followed by Lucy, guns at the ready, heading up the stairs. It was a large facility, entirely built out of steel and concrete, and luckily for the pair, the doors were relatively easy to unlock.

After five minutes of quiet sifting through crates, they found nothing of value and moved on.

"Danvers, what do you think we're going to find here?"

"I don't know, and honestly, I hope we don't find anything."

Alex saw Lucy nod in agreement from the corner of her eye, "So...you and Kara, eh?"

The soldier nearly stumbled over, "W-What?"

"You heard me, Director," Alex smirked.

"N-Nothing is going on between us, okay?"

"But it looks like you want more."

"Agent Danvers, this is really not the time," Lucy sighed with annoyance.

"So you really _like_ her," the agent continued to tease.

"It's...it's not like that...I just...I love her and all, but..." the soldier attempted to explain.

" _Oh_ ," Alex cut her off, barely containing her laughter, "You fell in _love_ with Supergirl."

Lucy's eye twitched, "Agent Danvers, if you don't shut up right now..."

"It's cool, I'm okay with it, you guys have my blessing," she snickered.

"We're just _friends_. I'm not jeopardizing the bond we've made already. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"Well... _I_ think you should go ahead and ruin it."

"How could you say that?"

"Because it could end up going well for the both of you. Are you sure you don't want to live a life with the cutest alien in the universe, and on top of that...raise a litter of puppies and kittens, or kids, but they're not fluffy so..."

Lucy sighed in defeat, hesitating, "Honestly...that sounds really tempting."

"Then what's stopping you?"

A pause.

"Kara is."

Alex was speechless, "What? Why?"

"I've tried many times to give her hints, she's so clueless sometimes."

"Ahhh...that's her charm though, and she's always oblivious when it comes to _love_ ," Agent Danvers said.

"Just concentrate on the mission, Danvers. You talk too much."

"You can tolerate Kara's incessant chatter, but not mine?"

"I've never been a fan of chit-chat."

"You always seem to find some time to listen to my little sister's small talk though."

"I really don't like you right now."

Alex hesitated before finally informing her, "You know...when I had my suspicions between you guys...I actually didn't like you."

"Really?" Lucy said, her interest piqued, "Well, you're her older sister, so that's understandable."

"Really," she confirmed, "It wasn't just because I'm her family. It was cause your father spent his life trying to torture and imprison people like her, and the last time I checked, you were working alongside him."

"So? That never meant I felt the same way. He doesn't speak for me," the brunette defended.

"But you didn't disagree. You never stood up to him," Alex stated, "I still get a bit worried for my sister from time to time when I think about that."

"He's my dad _and_ my boss. Trust me, I'd never do anything to hurt Kara."

"There's a part of me that believes that, but I'm not totally reassured. Am I supposed to just take your word for it?"

"Of course not. But at least give me the chance to prove it though."

Alex nodded, "Yeah, you're right."

Lucy sifted through a pile of papers, "DNA splicing?"

"What?"

"Lex Luthor is conducting alien and human experiments..."

"Take the files, we could use them," Alex said, and approached a sealed door.

"Agent, what're you doing?"

"This is a biometric scanner. The only one we've encountered so far. That's a bit odd considering all of the other doors have number pads."

"Damn..."

"Aha, but I came prepared with Lex's fingerprints," Agent Danvers said proudly, attaching a small, flat device onto the scanner.

"Where'd you get..."

"Ummm...after Superman's fight with Doomsday in Metropolis, the D.E.O. kind of investigated and...well, there."

The steel door made a ringing sound and slid open.

"Voila. After you, Director."

Lucy entered the premises with extreme caution before gasping, "What the hell is Luthor doing?"

Alex's mouth was wide open.

It was a dimly lit lab with a vast number of tools, and cells filled with hanging dead bodies; some of them were mutilated, faces torn clean off the bone, limbs missing and twisted every which way, boils and other unknown matter protruding out of some of the corpses. The pair could not decide which was worse, the sight or the smell. The horrid odor was intoxicating, making Lucy puke.

"You really need to get out in the field more, Director."

"Shut. Up," she coughed after finishing hacking her insides out.

"Desk jobs are lovely."

"Let's get out of here."

Alex touched her earpiece and proceeded to swipe any remaining documents from the lab, "Alpha team, beta team, this is knife leader, we're heading out and back to base in about fifteen minutes, do you copy?"

"Roger that."

"Affirmative."

Lucy was out the door already.

"Team leader! This is beta! We've got a situation! There's a bomb! Everyone, get down!"

Before the pair could react, the floor crumbled right beneath them.

Alex felt a sharp pain in her arm and screamed; it was dislocated at an unnatural angle, "Director?"

"I'm here, agent," Lucy reassured, stumbling her way towards the agent while holding her profusely bleeding head, "Your arm...I need to set it."

"Hell no, not without anesthesia, I can wait for the medics."

Without warning, she snapped the joint back into place, eliciting another scream from Alex.

"What the fuck, Lucy!"

"Get up, Danvers, we're leaving," the brunette ordered, "Alpha team, beta team, abort the mission, do you guys copy?"

No reply.

"I said do you copy?"

Nothing.

"Goddammit!" she hissed, holding out her hand to Alex, "Come on! Supergirl, where are you?"

They sprinted through the maze of rocks.

"I've been outside the building the entire time. Is something wrong?"

"Abort the mission! Agent Danvers and I are the only survivors!"

"Don't worry! I'm coming!"

"No! We can make it out alive, just get to safety!" Alex replied, cradling her arm and leading the way back through the rubble.

She didn't notice the rumbling sound that preceded the falling ceiling.

Lucy, despite her head injury, charged full speed at the unaware woman. She could feel her muscles tearing and her heart pounding in her ears.

"Move!" she shouted, shoving the agent out of harm's way.

Alex regained her composure and noticed her superior glance above, and as she was about to dive out of the way, the slab of rock crushed her.

Alarms blared and sirens painted the walls a neon red, the emergency lights turning on.

The impact of the mass created a shroud of dust, blinding Alex momentarily, as she attempted to wave the cloudy particles away.

But she regretted her action the moment she sat by Director Lane's side and her vision cleared.

Lucy laid prone on her back, pinned by a massive slab of stone from her feet up to her waist. Her breaths were short and scattered, shaking every time she struggled to inhale and exhale, the rock clearly obstructing her breathing. The state of her body looked extremely dire; half of her face was a mess of sticky blood that ran down from her scalp, likely a serious concussion as her pupils were dilated. Her left arm was mangled behind her torn up sleeve. Little bumps appeared where her ribs should be, perhaps protruding out and attempting to pierce through the skin. Her right arm she could move, it was still intact.

Lucy gasped, "You need to go."

"What? No!" Alex refused.

"Leave me. That's an order."

The stubborn agent ignored her demands and activated her earpiece, "Kara...we're on the first floor. We need you. Quickly."

She stared at the pool of blood spreading from under the rock, "You're going to be fine." But she was unsure, and Lucy could sense it.

"Don't lie to me, Alex...from the look on your face, it's worse than I thought," she chuckled, grimacing.

"Yeah...you've got some...some severe hemorrhaging."

Supergirl landed right beside her teammates, "Oh God..." The blonde immediately knelt down and brushed Lucy's hair to the side, her tears dripping onto the injured woman's face.

The soldier's lips quivered, she gritted her teeth in pain and let out a vulnerable squeak, "Kara...I don't want to die..."

The Kryptonian cupped her cheek, wiping away the tear that threatened to fall from her eye, "I won't let that happen. Let's get you out of here."

Alex put her hands under Lucy's armpits to pull her out as Kara slowly lifted up the boulder and put it to the side.

They both winced at Lucy's agonizing screams.

"Alex! Stop!"

The agent halted immediately, as the body refused to budge.

They both looked at the state of her body, pieces of thick metal protruded from her left leg and right side of her abdomen, and the rebar were attached to heavy pieces of concrete.

"Holy shit...this is not good," Alex stated with wide eyes.

"W-What is it," came Lucy's languid and lethargic voice, the dizziness swimming throughout her head. She could feel the blood pumping in her ears.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now!" came Kara's hopeless sigh.

"We have to take her out," Agent Danvers whispered reluctantly.

"Are you crazy? She'll bleed out!"

"But _you_ can make it to the D.E.O. fast enough!"

"I can't carry the _both_ of you!"

"Just leave me here! Backup is coming anyway!"

"What if Lex's men come?"

"I can take care of myself! I'll hide, fighting is my last resort!"

Supergirl's nostrils flared, her frustration showing, "Fine!" She crouched down to Lucy's level, and heard the brunette's heart beat spike. If they did not do something soon she would go into hypovolemic shock.

"Lucy, you've been impaled, I'm going to get you out."

"And it's going to hurt like a bitch, so brace yourself," Alex cautioned, pinning the small slabs attached to the rebar down.

Director Lane nodded slightly.

"Okay, sis," Kara prepared herself, tightening her hold under Lucy's knees and upper back, "On three. One. Two. _Three_!"

The brunette let out an agonizing scream as she was lifted off, nearly passing out, her vision blurring.

"Hey! Don't die on us, Lane! We need you!" Alex shouted.

Supergirl took flight and headed straight for the D.E.O., cradling the fragile body against her chest, "You're okay, you're okay, you're okay..." She continued to repeat the mantra, it almost lulled Lucy to sleep. Truthfully, she did not mind dying in Kara's arms, the last thing she would see were those toned biceps and beautiful face. She could even hear her strong heartbeat.

However, Lucy's was gradually slowing, Kara had noticed, tears streaming down her face.

With her good arm, the brunette reached up to caress Supergirl's cheek, "Don't cry..."

Kara attempted to give a reassuring smile, but failed miserably, "Come on, we're almost there, keep talking to me, you have to stay awake."

Lucy hummed, "What do you call a pile of kittens?"

"What?"

"A... _meow_ ntain."

"You're an idiot," Kara sniffled, on the verge of breaking down and sobbing.

"I know..." the soldier placed her good hand atop the center of Supergirl's chest, feeling her heart thump.

Supergirl slowly descended upon the fortress, "We're here. Let's get you fixed up."

"I don't think I'm going to make it out of this, Kara..."

"Don't talk like that..." the blonde mumbled.

Then she screamed, "Hey! We need medical attention! Director Lane is wounded!"

Agents swarmed the pair and took Lucy off of Kara's hands, loading her onto a gurney.

"Blood plasma is extremely low, going into hypovolemic shock," Dr. Hamilton announced, "Get me an oxygen mask, her levels are dropping!"

The electrocardiograph sped up its beeping at a dramatic rate.

The doctors were alarmed, "Tachycardia is setting in, hurry and get her out of the med bay and into the E.R.!"

But before they could do anything the machine let out a monotonous moan.

"Lucy!" Kara cried, attempting to reach her.

"Supergirl, get back!" The doctors and security were unable to hold her down, "Sedate her! Now!"

The blonde felt a pinch in the side of her neck and immediately lost consciousness, collapsing onto the ground, the guards dragging her limp body away from the surgeons.

"Clear!" Dr. Hamilton shouted, the defibrillators sent a shock through the dead woman's body.

Nothing.

"Clear!" the doctors repeated the actions, no movement. Then...

 _Beep_.

They all breathed a sigh of relief, "Get her stabilized and ready for the I.C.U. A.S.A.P.! Move it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	8. Convalescence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Kara personally aids in Lucy's recovery, they counterintuitively grow apart. Though they help support one another, the younger Lane notices the deteriorating health of her close friend, and her attempts at restoring their bond's strength is resisted.
> 
> **WARNING: Some moderate sexy times.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Convalescence

* * *

"J'onn, what's her status?" Alex inquired.

"Director Lane is currently undergoing surgery," he replied.

"But it's been seven hours."

"And it could take another two," he said matter-of-factly, "Her left arm was completely crushed, she was impaled in her left thigh and right side of her stomach, and she fractured four vertebrae along with a concussion."

Agent Danvers sighed, glancing over at her sister's stirring form, "Kara isn't going to like this... And what the hell did the guards inject her with?"

"They needed to ensure that she wouldn't interfere with the operation since she was very..." J'onn paused, "... _insistent_ on seeing Director Lane."

The edge of Supergirl's vision was returning as she struggled to listen to their conversation.

Lucy was alive, and that's all that mattered to her.

She bolted upright from her prone position, steadying her swaying body. She placed her palms against her temples, trying in vain to reduce the sharp pains that tormented her skull. Once the aching dulled she shook her head and groaned, "I need to see her. Please."

"Supergirl..." J'onn warned.

Alex motioned for him to stop, "Kara, she's being operated on, just give it a few more hours and she'll be fine, or at least better than she was before.

Her brain wanted to argue against it, but her heart was heavy and she just gave up, "Fine... I'm going home. Tell me when she's awake."

Frankly, Alex and J'onn were surprised at how fast she relented as she sulked away.

* * *

What was going through Kara's mind was inexplicable, physically she was still tense, but a sense of overwhelming calmness engulfed her, and it frightened her. She rarely slept or ate anymore, picking at her leftover potstickers and chocolate pecan pie; it reduced her skin into a very gaunt appearance.

She could never forget Lucy's terrified face before she mumbled, "Kara...I don't want to die..."

Due to Alex's efforts, the injured woman would be discharged within a week and the blonde would be taking full responsibility of nursing her back to health.

Kara was thankful, and grateful that her roommate made it out alive so that she did not have to surrender the white flag. However, she could not release the melancholic feeling that this incident would change them both, for better or for worse, but she had a hunch for the latter.

James and Winn were especially worried for the young superhero as she often arrived to CatCo with a depressing face, and her aura was not as bright. Even Cat Grant herself figured that something was peculiar about this change in the once sunny assistant of hers.

Every night she would berate herself for not being fast enough, she repeated choruses of "I should've been there" before she could fall asleep soundly, alone once again.

* * *

Once Lucy was discharged, she immediately rolled back to Kara in a wheelchair. The blonde mustered up a smile before gripping the handlebars to take her back home.

Their first night together after the release was...different. The ambience was gloomier and the rooms darker as Kara adjusted them so they would not interfere with Lucy's concussion. The blonde often had to carry the crippled soldier everywhere.

Lucy was simply ecstatic, and refused to let her physical afflictions influence her attitude, but she could not help but notice Kara's sorrowful look. She felt disappointed in herself that she made the woman she cared so much about worry incessantly. She felt as if she was burdening the superhero when she could do better things instead of carrying her around the house, like saving the world.

But Kara was patient and kind, always gentle with her touch and careful with her words, constantly asking if this or that was okay, relentlessly making sure if she was comfortable; her smile though, not once had Lucy seen the lovely creases widen to reach her eyes, they seemed to be forced and almost empty, only tilting up on rare occasions. What worried the brunette the most was that Kara never stuffed her face with hordes of delicacies anymore.

Each passing night together, Lucy would contemplate, her pensive state scolded her for not discussing this negative atmosphere to her caretaker. She also wanted badly to tell the hero how she truly felt, but she remained speechless; every time she gathered the courage to finally confess, it was Kara's demeanor that left her hanging by a thread - the blonde retained her beauty, but it was unbearable to look at her desolate facial features. She was beautiful, but in such a melancholic and bitter way that it left a heavy weight in Lucy's chest. That weight only served to augment itself and manifest into her consciousness; it grew exponentially and soon the brunette's talkativeness disappeared.

They rarely conversed anymore, just settling to exist beside one another.

It was time for physical therapy. This routine agonized the both of them. The brunette barely made any progress walking from their bedroom to the living room, which was only about a little over ten feet away. It usually ended in sweat and tears for the young soldier.

Kara propped the injured agent up and to the edge of her bed, slowly ascending and acting as a human crutch.

"Careful. One step at a time," the blonde mumbled, gently coaxing her forward.

Each step was more painful than the last, her trembles never subsided.

This time they made it to the kitchen, a far cry from the previous attempts, and the shorter woman stabilized herself against Supergirl, panting heavily, her body in excruciating pain, "I don't think...that I can make it."

Kara nodded in understanding. Lucy silently appreciated her sympathy.

As they were about to make their way back, the Lane's knees buckled. Supergirl reacted speedily and caught her by the waist. The brunette tightly grasped onto her broad shoulders and gazed up at her.

Their eyes met.

Kara's brows were furrowed with worry, as per usual. Lucy swore that the color of her irises were darker, more solemn and gray; she automatically leaned up towards the taller woman.

However, before the brunette could move closer, the target swayed away.

Lucy could feel heat crawling up her face, realizing that in her absentmindedness, she nearly kissed her friend.

Luckily for her, Kara had not noticed. Instead she swept the wounded agent off of her feet, carefully placing her in a seating position on the bed; she placed a comforting hand on her friend's uninjured thigh, a look of concern written on her face, "Do you need me to do anything else for you?"

Her voice was like sour honey, a melody yet a pain to Lucy's ears, and she heard a crack in her voice, but decided to ignore it, "I need more pain medication."

Kara glanced at the clock, "It's eleven at night, I'll go get them tomorrow morning, don't worry. Want me to get you some lighter pain medication, like ibuprofen? There's a twenty-four-hour store nearby, I can grab some O.T.C. meds."

The brunette put her hands against her forehead and sighed, "No, it's all right, I can toughen it out for a few hours."

A moment of silence.

"Can I check on your injury?" Kara asked.

Lucy bit her lip and reluctantly nodded, scrunching up the hem of her shirt to reveal a blood-soaked patch placed on top of her left side. It was the only wound remaining that was still trying to seal itself, and the stitches seemed to be intact.

Kara removed the tainted gauze gently, reaching into the first aid kit to retrieve a fresh roll and a small vial of antiseptic, "We're lucky no parts of your open skin caught an infection."

The brunette held her breath, preparing for the sting of the remedy. She grimaced when the blonde began to apply the liquid onto the patch and secured it onto her abdomen.

"Is that okay, Luce?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Okay...just tell me if you need something. I'll be just outside the door waiting for you to get ready for bed."

As the Kryptonian was about to close the block of wood, the brunette hesitated, "Hey...Kara?"

The blonde creaked the door open, "Yeah?"

Lucy shifted in the bed, a little bit of red coloring her cheeks, "Ummm...can you...help me get dressed? I can't...it hurts..."

Kara coughed awkwardly, clearly flustered. Usually she was not needed for that as they maintained a steady supply of narcotics, so Lucy was able to get herself dressed without help, but this just _had_ to be the _one_ time they were too busy to notice that the supply had dwindled.

"S-Sure," the blonde stuttered, clumsily backing away, stumbling over her feet, bumping into the corner of the nightstand, and hitting the frame of the door, "I'll just...g-get you some clothes."

The soldier let out a breath of laughter. It was really nice to see the adorable, awkward side of her again, if only even for a moment.

Soon the flushed girl returned to the room with a pair of navy blue sweats and a black tank top, setting them down next to her roommate, who was already struggling to remove the buttons on her pants.

Kara just stood there, dumbfounded, she had no idea what to do.

"Ummm, Supergirl? A little help here?"

The hero jumped, startled out of her reverie, "O-Oh, of course. Ahem..." She crouched in front of Lucy and shakily reached towards the waistband of her jeans.

They refused to meet each other's eyes for obvious reasons.

She slowly slid down her apparel, careful not to hurt her. However, she did nick her thigh injury and the brunette let out a sound that was a cross between a growl and a hiss.

"S-Sorry," Kara apologized, sliding the pants the rest of the way down, peering at her otherwise smooth legs. She riveted for around three seconds before desperately searching for something else to ogle, "C-Can you lift your arms up?"

"I can try..."

The blonde stuck her tongue against her cheek, it was a very distressful situation for the both of them, "This might hurt a little."

By the time they passed the five-minute mark on trying to take off the shirt they were chuckling away.

Now, Lucy was clad only in her lacy black lingerie. "Sexy" fell short as a description, and though the scars were stitched, there remained an unpleasantness in looking at them.

Kara gulped, rubbing the back of her neck, unable to take her blue orbs off of the stunning woman's figure, "Uh, d-do you need me to leave so you can, you know, get dressed? Oh, but you're probably going to need me to clothe you too, I'm so stupid. I mean, unless you'd rather just do it because I don't mind, I understand, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything..."

The blonde continued to ramble incessantly, droning on, but it served only as background noise for Lucy, who suddenly found a brazen, burning desire within her heart.

"Kara," she said in a sweet, silky voice.

"Y-Yeah?" her voice drifted off.

The brunette quickly leaned in and connected their lips.

The Kryptonian's eyes widened, but then she melted into it. Her lips tasted like a floral vanilla, and her gentleness became slightly rougher, more intense, deepening the kiss.

They reluctantly stopped to stare; blue met green, both filled with lust.

Lucy reached for the nape of Kara's neck and pulled her down onto the mattress, linking their mouths once again. The blonde's graceful fingers cupped the younger Lane's cheek and slowly trailed up her uninjured thigh, then against the skin of her waist, making her shiver to the touch. She grasped her thigh and hoisted her up onto the pillows, their heavy breathing and quiet moans breaking in between the kisses. Kara was so gentle, as if her Kryptonian strength would break the fragile human before her. When she moved to do anything else she always needed approval from the brunette under her, who in turn nodded insistently and impatiently.

Lucy's boldness overcame her, and she proceeded to take off the blonde's glasses and unbuttoned her shirt all the way down; she ran her fingers through the skin of the toned abs through the cloth. The throbbing made her impatient, and she was sure Kara yearned for her as well, so next were her jeans as she reached the bottoms to unclip the mechanism and bring the zipper down.

The blonde's breath hitched, pleasant sensations filling and firing up every single nerve inside of her, and she moved to adore Lucy's neck, her wet mouth sucking gently. She wanted to feel every curvature, every bump, every hill, every depression that adorned her body, as well as the features that decorated her face.

The brunette ran her fingers through the long, yellow locks of hair, and sighed into her mouth, arching her back to raise her bucking hips against her partner's. She nibbled her lips and begged, "Please, don't stop."

Kara did not plan to, but it did not keep her nervousness from building up, "I've...I've never...it's my first..."

Lucy already understood and nodded her head slowly, mumbling, "Me too..."

The blonde smiled in the middle of the kiss, whispering, "God, you're so beautiful, Lucy..."

However, she was not exactly expecting a reply that sounded alike to a whimper of pain. Kara immediately halted her movements, "We should stop, you're hurting."

Lucy refused and pressed her forehead against the blonde's, trying to lean in for another kiss.

The Kryptonian was off the bed in less than a second, this time she heard a protesting whine, but ignored her, "We have to stop. You're in no shape to even be walking, let alone...whatever _this_ is that we're doing."

The hurt expression on the brunette's face was almost unbearable, but Kara decided to stand by what she said, folding her arms and looking away, "I...I'm not your _plaything_ to toy with because of your break-up with James," her voice was heartbroken and bitter, she was on the verge of breaking down, "I'm not someone you can just screw around with and...and ultimately throw away as if I were nothing to you. Don't use me, don't mess with my feelings like this; showing up with your...your stupid gorgeous face and your beautiful personality, and your damn eyes. I can't stand it anymore!"

At this point, Kara's hands were pressed against her head, the tears overflowing her face.

Her mind was lost and confused, causing her to collapse with her back resting against the wall. By now she was crying uncontrollably.

Lucy had a newfound strength in her, and slowly, but surely, struggled her way over to the agonized woman, who was unable to hear her footsteps over her own sobs.

The brunette gritted her teeth through the pain and knelt down in front of the young hero, tilting her chin up, then cupping her face, caressing her cheekbones with her thumbs, "I'm not taking advantage of you, or manipulating you. Have you ever considered the fact that I feel the exact same way?"

A painful silence ensued.

"Y-You...what?" she sniffed.

"I _love_ you, Kara Danvers," her voice cracked, and she pressed her forehead against the blonde's.

This time, it was the Kryptonian that initiated the kiss. They merged their lips, their faces stained with tears, tasting the sweet saltiness that was their confessions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	9. Leisure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The couple finally catches a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Leisure

* * *

Kara was the first to wake up, as she had paperwork to finish for her job at CatCo, and Cat Grant was a _very_ demanding woman. She took refuge in the dining room, contemplating a report to write up, chewing the tip of her pen.

She was in a very good mood because of yesterday, she could not stop thinking about Lucy's soft and sultry lips that were complemented with her sharp forest green eyes.

The blonde shook her head and growled in frustration, she was unable to concentrate on her work because of that beautiful woman.

Lucy too, was very preoccupied with thoughts about the superhero, and somewhat disappointed that they had not continued that... _event_ that took place last night. Their love confessions had given her a better base of strength, physically and mentally, her perseverance was resilient.

The brunette released a deep, contented sigh and made to stand up, grimacing slightly at the pain. She slowly strode her way over to the frame of the door and leaned onto it for support, "Morning, Kara."

"Nice to see that you've made it to the door without my help."

The soldier took her time walking until eventually she was behind the Kryptonian, she traced her fingers over her shoulders before pulling the chair away from the table. She swung her leg around despite the pain and straddled Kara's lap, face to face.

"Wha – I, uh, what're you doing?" Kara was clearly flushed, and felt even hotter when Lucy shifted herself into a more comfortable position.

It really turned her on.

_Please, just give me a break, Ms. Grant is going to kill me if I don't finish this._

Apparently, the world had other plans for her.

Lucy leaned in dangerously close to Kara's ear and whispered, "Take a break. Let's have some fun. We can finish what we started yesterday."

The brunette dangled her elbows over the flustered blonde's shoulders and bit her ear.

"H-hah, y-you...are a _very_...distracting woman, Lucy Lane..." Kara chuckled nervously, feeling the heat of the woman's breath, and the circling of her hips did not make things any better.

The Kryptonian fluidly grasped her waist and pulled their bodies closer together, their lips finally met for a hot, wet kiss. Then she hoisted her on top of the table, her hand under the hem of her shirt, placing love bites against her neck.

Lucy was not a very patient person and roughly took Kara's roaming hand to hook it against the waistband of her boy-shorts.

As she was about to pull the article of clothing off, the doorbell rang.

The brunette groaned, "Seriously?"

Kara sighed and smiled kindly, heading towards the door, "I'll be right back."

There was the click of the lock and then the aperture swung open, "Alex?"

The agent noticed the unruly blonde hair, "Oh, did I catch you at a bad time?"

"O-Oh, w-why're you aski..."

"Don't worry about it!" Lucy chimed in, carefully skipping over to the sisters, "We weren't busy. What'd you need?"

"Actually...I just needed to talk to my little sis, Director Lane."

"Alright," she smiled lightly, "I'll leave you two to it then."

Before the brunette left she gave Kara a peck on the cheek.

Alex stood there, open-mouthed, "What was that?"

"Oh," the blonde grinned sheepishly, "We're kind of together now."

"What? Since when?"

"Last night."

"It took you, like, a _year_ to get together?" Alex pinched her temples, "I knew I should've interfered."

Kara huffed, waiting for Alex to continue.

"Ahhh...so I _did_ interrupt something, didn't I?" Agent Danvers gave a sly wink, "Don't tell me I ruined the moment in the middle of your first time."

The blonde's face was the brightest pink that the young agent had ever seen, making her explode into laughter, "I _did_ , didn't I? Are you guys going to take yet _another_ year for foreplay?"

She thought Kara's face could not get any redder. She was wrong.

"I don't appreciate your teasing, Alex..." the blonde pouted.

"So have you given each other pet names yet? Like 'honey' or 'sweetie', or she could probably call you 'significant annoyance'?" she snickered.

The Kryptonian's eyes squinted, "You're really grating on my nerves now. What're you here for anyway?"

Immediately, Alex halted her giggling and opted for a more serious facial expression, "Apparently General Lane was called in."

"Lucy's father?"

"Yeah, I know, right? Time for you to make a good impression," she nudged the girl of steel with her elbow, wiggling her eyebrows.

Kara simply glared.

"Alright," the agent raised her hands in surrender, "It's just that things aren't going well for the D.E.O. right now. Two members have vanished without a trace and we're unable to locate any of them; Dr. Hamilton and Vasquez are missing."

"Well what does that have to do with General Lane?"

"J'onn suspected a spy and notified the executives, and...they thought the best option was to send in military operatives from the Army," Alex hesitated, "In the meantime, I also suggest keeping the couple shit to a minimum. He's already not too fond of you.

"Does Lucy know about this?"

"I assume she doesn't. She hasn't exactly been on very good terms with her father since the Red Tornado incident."

"What about Lois?"

"From the rumors I've heard, their relationship is not terribly stable."

"Okay, I'll try to lay low," Kara sighed exasperatedly, "But I'm warning you now that Lucy can be a very persuasive person."

"Ew, I don't need the details about your sex life," Alex stuck her tongue out in disgust, "Do I need to sit you two down and give you...'the talk'?"

The blonde fumed, her face put her vivid cape to shame, "I-I wasn't even..."

"Just get back at it, tiger," she winked before leaving, "Unless I ruined the moment."

The Kryptonian groaned before shutting the door with a loud thud, considering whether or not to throw her older sister into space.

Then she heard a shout from outside, "Use protection!"

* * *

Under the care of Kara, Lucy slowly regained the ability to walk, then eventually jog, and finally sprint within a short amount of time. The brunette often went for runs outside of their apartment for her recovery while Supergirl continued to work at CatCo and alongside the D.E.O.

The blonde often came home from stressful days due to the missing reports of several agents, seven thus far, and all were integral members of the organization; they were mysteriously picked off one by one. There was no pattern to the kidnappings, it was all seemingly randomized and left absolutely no clues; no fingerprints, strands of hair, tissue, blood...nothing. It was all puzzling to the detectives and investigators as they were all picking at crumbs that led to nowhere, but they did determine that the agents were most likely imprisoned, possibly to extract information about the D.E.O. Members were scrambling to uncover the mastermind behind the chaos as tensions continued to grow.

Fortunately for Lucy, Kara never came home with horrific wounds, keeping her promise that she would be more careful.

One day, the brunette returned to the apartment at around two in the morning in a drunken stupor.

"Lucy! Where the hell were you? I was worried si-"

The Kryptonian was interrupted with a kiss that tasted unpleasant. She was never a fan of alcohol, and pushed the drunk away, who tipped over into a pair of strong arms.

"Hi, honey..." Lucy cried, "I missed you..."

Kara dragged her into the apartment and attempted to wrestle her into bed. The movement caused Lucy to throw up her breakfast, lunch, and dinner all over the blonde's t-shirt and the hardwood floor.

"Ugh! Gross!" She ignored the putrid odor and finally accomplished her task, the limp body rested comfortably on the cushions, her leg and arm dangling from the edge of the mattress.

As she was about to hop into the bathroom and clean herself up, she felt fingers fumble to grab her wrist and a little voice burp, "Don't leave me. Please stay."

"Lucy, I'll just be in and out of the bathroom quickly, I won't leave you for long," Kara chuckled.

The brunette growled, "Stay."

The girl of steel decided not to complain and took off her shirt to throw it into the laundry basket.

"I like this view better," the soldier eyeballed the Kryptonian's black sports bra and clumsily dragged her into bed.

"Comfortable?"

Lucy cuddled against Kara, intertwining their legs, "I'm _very_ comfortable. You're soft and squishy. I got lonely while you were working."

"Well, I'm here now," the blonde grinned, resting her chin above her head.

After a moment of silence, Lucy whispered, "Kara?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a question that I've been thinking about for a long time. Or since a few hours ago."

"So..."

The brunette interrupted her, "Do you think penguins like juggling?"

The Kryptonian let out bouts of laughter, "What? I thought this was going to be a serious question."

She pouted, "It _is_ serious!"

"Well, I don't think their flippers would be able to..."

"No, no, no. I meant do they like to _watch_ juggling?"

"W-Why would you even consider that?"

"Because I kind of want to send a team to Antarctica and juggle for them. I think they'd be really happy."

Kara rolled her eyes, "You're being silly. You're drunk. Go to sleep."

"I'm not drunk."

The blonde's eyebrow arched.

"Okay, maybe a little bit," the brunette adjusted herself, and her leg moved up against her partner's crotch.

Kara let out a muffled gasp, "Lucy..."

She gave a devilish grin, rubbing her body against the Kryptonian, "Yes?"

The girl of steel shut her eyes tightly.

"You're soaking," she reached into the woman's panties, "Am I making you wet?"

Kara let out a moan and bit her lip, "Oh, God."

Lucy flipped her over and straddled her, rocking her hips back and forth, gradually increasing the speed. They could feel each other's dampness.

The blonde propped her elbows up to deepen the kiss, but felt a pair of slender hands push her back down onto the mattress.

* * *

Alex decided to go purchase a bouquet of flowers and a card, which she wrote, "congrats on the sex" on. She loved her sister dearly, and loved teasing her even more. But she was in for a wild surprise when she unlocked the door and noticed that it was strangely quiet.

_It's, like, three in the afternoon. Where are they?_

"Kara?" she called out, scanning her bedroom.

What she received as a response was Lucy rising up from the floor on the other side of the bed, the blanket covering her torso slipping down.

"Oh my God!" Alex covered her eyes and Lucy let out a little scream, which startled Kara awake. The agent's little sister was covered with some red marks that matched the ones on Lucy's, and both had the lipstick covered in several areas of their faces.

"Gross! I'm out!" the older Danvers cried, throwing the card at the couple, "Flowers are on the counter!"

As much as Alex enjoyed teasing them, she absolutely did _not_ want to witness any of it, and she stumbled awkwardly out of the apartment complex.

"Oh!" a voice called, "Alex!"

She turned to see an old man saunter just out of the door with his wife, "Oh! Mr. Carlsen!"

"Were you having a sleep over party with your sister and her new friend?" he asked, utterly oblivious, "It was quite loud yesterday."

The elderly lady elbowed him in the ribs and glared, not obliviously.

Alex shuddered, "Yeah...right..."

"Well, I'm glad you kiddos had fun! You're both always working hard, it's nice to see some relaxation."

"Heh... Thanks, Mr. Carlsen. I really have to get going though, maybe we'll talk the next time I visit?"

"Of course! We're making lasagna casserole this weekend if you kiddies want to join!" he said as he waved goodbye.

" _Harold_!" the lady whispered harshly, "Kara and her new _friend_ are _lesbians_!"

His mouth gaped open, "Ohhh..."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled, "We'll make extra for Kara, she's quite the little piggy."

* * *

Alex rubbed her eyes, "Jesus, that was so disgusting."

"You should've knocked!" Kara nearly shouted, adjusting her seat at the café's coffee table.

Lucy, however, remained silent, her face slightly pink.

"That image is seared into my brain and I'll never get it out," Alex lamented, then her expression took on a more annoyed look, "And it's all because of _you_!"

Kara startled backwards when her glasses were flicked into an odd position, which was quickly remedied when Lucy moved over to fix it.

They stared lovingly, lost in each other's eyes, then noticed that Alex was retching beside them. They quickly turned away and increased their distance from one another.

The older Danvers gagged, "It's like I don't even exist when you two are around each other anymore," she gave a devious smile, "I really hope you guys are up for work today though."

"What do you mean?" the brunette inquired.

* * *

" _Dad_?" Lucy gasped, "What're you doing in the D.E.O.?"

"I'm momentarily taking over," he stated simply, eyeing the people who he deemed as suspicious, "I was notified that a spy has infiltrated this facility under _your_ watch."

He nearly spat at her, very disappointed. It took every fiber of Kara's being not to punch his aggravating face.

The brunette instantly retreated, "I...I'm sorry, General Lane..."

"It was under my watch as well, if you should blame anyone blame me," J'onn intervened.

"Who exactly is in charge here?" the man's grave voice sounded.

"Major Lane is officially named the acting director, but I take over when she decides to dispatch herself on missions."

Supergirl's already nonexistent respect for the General Lane dwindled even further, "What's your plan then?"

"I have reason to suspect that it's _you_ ," the old man barked.

J'onn intercepted the conversation once again, "Sir, that's absolutely ludicrous. Supergirl has been nothing but a contributor to this organization, and I strongly don't recommend putting her in a cell to interrogate her, she's a valuable asset."

"She's only been beneficial to us," Alex added, "There shouldn't be any reason whatsoever to question her."

"I have plenty of reasons and plenty more methods to get those answers!" General Lane snarled, stepping closer to the girl of steel in a futile attempt to intimidate her, "Why was it that when Agent Danvers and Director Lane were dispatched in a task force for a reconnaissance mission that you just so happened to be out of the way and high in the sky for the entire duration?"

"Hold on!" Lucy shouted, "I ordered her to stay above the building and out of the field! She was recovering!"

"Did I give you permission to speak?"

The brunette looked at J'onn and Alex in desperation.

Director Henshaw chimed in, "What she's saying is true, there should be no qualms about this."

The older Danvers nodded in agreement.

" _Don't_ make me put you under custody as well, Martian," he sneered, "Luckily for you, there was no evidence found linking you to anything suspicious."

J'onn retreated and folded his arms, glaring.

General Lane growled, "The bomb was manufactured from a magnesium and titanium alloy, along with extraterrestrial substances and it weighed _well_ over a few tons. Clearly someone had to bring it in, and as there were sub-par security guards, I'm going to assume they weren't the ones to carry the damn thing."

He continued after being met with silence, "Not only that, but my combat analysts recorded absolutely _no_ traces of Kryptonite, very convenient wouldn't you all say?"

"There has to be a mistake," Lucy whispered, "Someone's trying to frame Supergirl, it must be. She's the victim here, multiple aliens have targeted her already."

"That means nothing, it could very well be a cover for her."

Though J'onn and Alex knew in their hearts that Kara was not the suspect, they also knew that they could not counter this evidence. His bases were solid and, though slightly far-fetched, plausible.

"Take her away," boomed General Lane's voice.

A trio of veterans entered the premises with Kryptonite emitters and handcuffed Supergirl as she struggled to get away from them.

"Resisting arrest is an offense," he smirked, "Aliens like you have no rights on Earth. Now, get her out of my sight."

The soldiers heavily sedated her, her eyes grew heavy like it was weighed down by lead, and the last thing Kara saw was Lucy trying to rip away from J'onn's arms and Alex's furious expression.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	10. The Construct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In light of unexplainable events circling around the D.E.O., J'onn suspects a traitor, so General Lane is sent forth. But his arrival is not taken well by Supergirl, whom he suspects to be a mole, putting the young hero in a precarious position. Meanwhile, it is up to Alex and Lucy to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: TORTURE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# The Construct

* * *

The form was blurry, but she could make out male features in front of the bright green glow. He was wearing a surgical mask and dressed in a white lab coat, and his assistant was dressed in turquoise medical attire.

"Specimen K-004 is awake; we can proceed with the operation, sir," a thick, accented voice sounded, "Dr. Markov, it seems the alien is losing consciousness."

The doctor appeared in front of Kara and sighed, pulling his arm back and swinging at her cheek.

She was startled awake and felt blood trickle from the corner of her mouth.

_Damn Kryptonite emitters._

"Welcome! Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Dr. Ulysses Markov, and he's my assistant, Dr. Siegfried Dziedzic," he gestured.

She spat at the man, eliciting a frown from him, and this time he punched her face and spoke with his vile Russian accent, " _Don't_ provoke me, filth!"

Kara heard her jaw crack, probably a fracture, but she ignored the pain and glared at the doctors. She realized she was unable to move her body as her arms and legs were strapped to a cold, metal table. Her fists clenched in frustration.

"Aha! Not so _super_ now are you?"

"What the hell do you want from me?"

"Well, since you've been convicted and have no rights on this planet, the generous General Lane decided to hand you over to us. So we came to visit from Cadmus as you're the first live Kryptonian specimen we've ever had," he flashed a toothy grin and rubbed his hands together, putting on his latex gloves, "Don't worry, you're still at the D.E.O. and we'll take _very_ good care of you."

Dziedzic added, "We're going to keep you alive for our experiments as long as we can, we're quite fascinated with your anatomy."

Kara struggled against her binds again and noticed a draft. She was clothed in a light medical gown.

"Shall we start with the tap?" Markov suggested, pulling his tray of surgical tools beside him, "Don't worry K-004, we're just going to take a bit of spinal fluid from you, then proceed with a bone marrow extraction."

They strapped her onto her side and began to prepare for the procedure. Dziedzic flicked the large syringe and he spoke in a rush, "By the way, we decided not to waste our iodine and anesthesia on an outsider like you, so this is going to hurt. _A lot_."

Kara did not have time to register what the doctor said as he immediately pierced through her skin and into her spine, withdrawing the fluid. She clenched her fists and bit down on her lip, refusing to scream.

By the time they were finished with the excruciating five minutes, she was sweating and panting, hoping the soreness would disappear.

The blonde gritted her teeth as they appeared in front of her line of sight.

They were shocked and Markov's voice rang in her ears, "Your pain tolerance is absolutely phenomenal. Not a lot of our patients could withstand that without passing out, or screaming for that matter. I like you already."

Kara grunted, "Damn you."

"Mind your language, cunt!" Dziedzic warned, flipping her over onto her back, the vibrations causing her spine an immense amount of pain, "It's unfortunate that your girlfriend can't save you this time."

She whimpered.

"Lucy Lane was it? Maybe I can get my hands on her once we're finished with you. I wonder if there are any reproductive changes a Kryptonian has on a human."

"Don't you dare!" Kara shouted, lunging at the man in a futile attempt.

"Pathetic whore," he said, "Let's drill her bones already and extract the marrow."

"On your right thigh perhaps?" Markov snickered, "The femur is the worst part to drill into I've heard. My specimens tend to be very... _vocal_."

"Those sadistic bastards," Lucy growled from the outside of the observing glass. She attempted to call for Kara multiple times in vain as people inside of the room were unable to see outside of the clear wall, and on top of that, it was also impervious to external sounds.

"We have to get her out of there..." Alex sighed, her back turned the entire time.

"And how the hell are we supposed to do that?"

"We have to find evidence that shows Kara is innocent, or that at least provides reasonable doubt. Come on, Lucy, we're going to save your girlfriend."

As the brunette was about to follow, a bloodcurdling scream reached her eardrums. She could not look back. A tear fell, "Those sons of bitches..." Then she moved to follow Agent Danvers out of the observation room.

The machine spun, and the large needle corkscrewed its way into Kara's femur, slowly extracting her bone marrow.

Markov laughed, "You won't be able to walk for a while, darling. And this is only the beginning; you're going to be spending a few days with us."

At this point the young blonde was crying, begging for them to stop.

It was only a few more minutes before they threw her into the Kryptonite cell as the wardens stretched her arms apart from each other and chained them up to the ceiling, her legs dangling a foot off of the ground. She could feel the strain of the metal as it dug into her skin.

Kara hung there for four more days, in and out of the psychotic doctors' experiments, each one of them different from the last. They suffocated her, extracted tissue, tested her bone tension, tested her dehydration resistance, tested her starvation resistance, among others.

"Good morning, K-004!" Markov greeted jovially, "Our fifth day together already!"

She flinched away from his malicious voice, her fear prevalent.

"Oh, don't be afraid, darling. We're just going to do another experiment," he sighed lightly, "What do you think of Kryptonite gas?"

Her eyes widened at the memory and flinched away.

"Don't worry, less concentrated than the last one you were exposed to from what I see in your medical records," Dziedzic assured, "Its toxicity is still potent to your kind, you _will_ feel as if your innards are melting. I pity your fragile nature to it, if only you weren't an endangered species."

They released her chains and she plopped onto the cold, hard ground. Her nostrils flared, eyes burning up and glowing a neon blue, indicative of her heat vision.

"Increase the concentration," Markov ordered.

Kara suddenly winced and groaned, collapsing onto the floor, too weak to get up. The wardens dragged her onto a metal platform and strapped her down.

Dziedzic made a gesture with his hand, "Open the vents. Release the gas."

A hiss surrounded the room as the contaminated air made its way into the Kryptonian's lungs.

She coughed, gagged, hacked, retched, anything to attempt to dispel the foul gas in vain. She could feel her insides burning and noticed after a half an hour that bruises were forming.

"Several contusions have developed," Markov noted, "Internal hemorrhaging most likely the cause."

Her nose bled and the vessels in the whites of her eyes ruptured due to the poisonous exposure.

"Sir, she's losing consciousness again. I recommend continuing with the next Kryptonite experiment, if she suffers a brain hemorrhage, she'll be useless to us."

Markov sighed in disappointment, "Fine."

He watched as his assistant inserted IV tubes into her arteries, connected to bags of liquid Kryptonite.

"Commence," Dziedzic ordered.

Kara's brain rushed into panic mode and primal fear took over her as she saw the green liquid snake its way into her veins. Her body was attacked by millions of foreign cells, making her arteries glow a hazy green as they conquered every inch of her body, which shook violently.

When she was hung back up into her cell she continued to tremble, her voice hoarse and raspy. She was unsure if her battered and abused body would survive another torturous experimentation, as was Lucy and Alex.

* * *

"I'm going to kill those bastards when I get my hands on them."

"Calm down, Director Lane," J'onn said.

"No! We've been sitting in this office re-watching the same footage and re-reading the same reports over and over again for six days! I can't concentrate when I'm hearing Kara's screams next door, this is a waste of time!"

Lucy stormed out of the room and stomped straight towards where her girlfriend's chambers were located.

"Director?" Dziedzic's mouth was agape, "You're not supposed to be here."

"I'm the head of the D.E.O. I'll do whatever I wish, and I wish to speak to Supergirl alone," she glared daggers at the two doctors, "My dad may be in charge, but if you disobey me, I swear my punishments are much worse than he has to offer."

They quickly made their way out.

Lucy hastened to Kara, caressing her bloodied face, "I'm going to get you out of here. I promise."

The blonde leaned into her touch, inhaled deep her scent of floral vanilla, and croaked out, "I missed you."

They both let their tears fall and shared an intimate kiss.

"We're figuring out what to do, we'll show my dad that you're innocent."

* * *

Alex gasped, "What the hell is that?"

"What is it?" J'onn asked.

"Do you see that line of orange in the live camera footage, just outside of the entrance?"

"They're getting closer..."

"It looks like a group of different life-forms. A very _large_ group."

Agent Danvers paced back and forth in deep thought, "No outsider should have any information on this location. This is madness. What if the captured agents said something? Now we have to deal with intruders _and_ those Cadmus assholes gassing Kara to death?"

J'onn reeled back, "What'd you just say about your sister?"

"That the last time I checked up on her she was being gassed? Apparently they were 'inspired' by the battle between Kara and the three fugitive aliens."

"That was a classified incident. It should be confidential. Only agents with the top security clearance level would be able to access those files: me, you, Majo – I mean Director Lane, and Dr. Hamilton."

"What do you mean?"

"Who the hell gave those doctors the files?" J'onn grumbled, "Rewind the footage to the day General Lane arrived."

The CCTV exhibited panoramic footage of the main H.Q. of the facility.

"Alex, pause right there."

The security camera showed in a dark corner a young man conversing with the doctors and handing them a packet of papers. He was tall and lanky, adorned with an outfit that was similar to a postman, then he turned around and winked at the camera.

Lex Luthor.

"He was right under our noses! Alert the facility! We have to defend it! Sound the alarm!"

* * *

A blaring siren screeched throughout the building and grabbed the attention of all of the agents, then as suddenly as it started, it faltered, as did the rest of the electricity.

The emergency reserves kicked in to supply temporary energy, dimly lighting each room with its fluorescent red glow.

The Kryptonite emitters lowered to the point Kara could finally release herself from the chains, she collapsed against Lucy.

"You're okay, I've got you," the brunette wrapped Kara's arm around her shoulder to support the near-dead weight, "Come on, we've got to go, get outside and into the sun. It looks like we're being infiltrated."

The intercom gave a static sound, and a familiar voice sounded through the speakers, "Hello, D.E.O.! It is I, Lex Luthor." He gave a small chuckle before continuing, "I have sole custody of the Orange Lantern, there's an army approaching the facility in about...oh...let's say...a minute. And I have a message for Supergirl. You're going to end up just like your cousin soon; Metropolis's hero is gone, and now I'm going to do the same to National City's. Entertain me with a glorious battle. This _is_ war after all now. Or you can amuse me by attempting to evacuate, everyone in here is going to die regardless. The building will be reduced to rubble within thirty minutes to an hour, so put your thinking caps on. Ta-ta..."

His message buzzed out and was followed by a loud explosion.

"We've been breached!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	11. Devour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The super friends attempt to tie up loose ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Devour

* * *

"Advance with extreme caution!" an agent ordered, "We don't know what these things are capable of yet, so brace for impact!"

The army consisted of aliens of different races, but what they all had in common was an orange aura enveloping their bodies, almost like a fire.

Lucy acted as Kara's crutch as they were headed to meet up with J'onn and Alex, she activated her earpiece, "Director Henshaw, do you have any intel on these things?"

"Somehow Lex Luthor acquired an Orange Lantern ring from an entity who was banished outside of the universe. We have to abandon the facility, there's too many, but the power they wield is not as strong compared to an army sent by Larfleeze himself."

"Noted," the brunette replied, "Kara, we've got to get out of here."

"I...I can fight," she panted back.

"No! You're in no condition to, only if it's absolutely necessary."

The girl of steel struggled to walk and collapsed. As Lucy was attempting to help her up, she caught sight of an Orange Lantern stalking towards them, "Get out of the way!"

The soldier spun around and released a bullet from its chamber, then another, and another. The next shot the alien dead in the eye and it screamed in pain before lifting Lucy up and smashing her into the ground. She slid all the way to the other end of the room.

Kara called out her name, to which she heard an "I'm fine". Standing up, she flew into the lantern and knocked it unconscious, its body vanishing into thin air.

* * *

"Agent Danvers, what are you doing?" J'onn shouted, "We have to meet up with Supergirl and Director Lane!"

"Just give me a minute!" Before he knew it, she came running out with a small box of synthetic solar energy filled syringes, "Kara is going to need it."

He nodded in agreement and grunted, shape-shifting into his true form, "Let's move."

They took care of the incoming lanterns relatively well and were near the door. The swarms of aliens ceased to flow, but the number of dead bodies that were strewn around the room would eventually outnumber them.

"They're over there!" Alex pointed. The couple were fighting their way through the lanterns with slightly more ease than their first encounter. It was not in a swift amount of time, but they eventually made it to the pair, initiating an evacuation.

Agent Danvers immediately took the chance and injected Kara with two vials of solar energy, "That should be a sufficient amount, it'll give you some strength, and probably close those wounds of yours."

"I hate needles..." the blonde cursed under her breath, feeling her strength returning.

"There are worse things to worry about right now, sis."

"Fortunately," Lucy added, "These things aren't that tough once you get used to them. Sure, they're strong, but they're all sluggish. I don't think Luthor knows how to control the Orange Lanterns all that well yet."

They waited for the straggling D.E.O. operatives to catch up to them, creating a group of fourteen soldiers, who were all armed.

"There's only thirty-three of them left," J'onn stated, "Get into pairs, we're going to flank the entrance."

The agents nodded, covering their positions.

"Supergirl, you're going to take them from above. You need to draw their attention from the inside."

"Got it, chief," Kara felt soft fingers gently squeeze her hand, she turned to see Lucy's slightly upturned lips.

"Be careful."

The blonde smiled, "Always. I promise."

With that she flew high into the sky and slammed into the roof of the building.

J'onn raised his hand to halt the eager soldiers from entering, "Give it twenty seconds."

They lowered their weapons.

"She's taken out six already."

"Leaves us twenty-seven," Alex calculated.

"Actually, twenty-two now," Director Henshaw scoffed, "You gave her two injections?"

"Yeah?"

"That's a bit overpowered, Agent Danvers," J'onn smirked, "Okay. Now! Go!"

The small group stormed into the building and began to gun down the remaining lanterns.

Lucy was equipped with dual wield pistols and fired with such deadly accuracy, taking out four.

Alex's rifle was propped onto her shoulder as she stayed behind cover, sniping the targets from far away.

J'onn was in his true form and flew around with Kara, slamming into the lanterns from opposite ends of the room.

In about ten minutes all of the enemies were defeated. However, the D.E.O. was laid to waste; rubble covered the floors and bodies were layered underneath and on top of them, complemented with shards of shattered glass and broken debris.

Though it looked as if there were no survivors as the aftermath of the massacre left liters of blood, Director Henshaw demanded that the rest of the team look for anyone that seemed to be remotely alive.

The aliens in custody underground though, were not reached, so they did not need to worry about escaped prisoners.

J'onn sighed in frustration, "Everyone can return home, I'm going to call in General Lane's forces to deal with this mess. After all, he still is temporarily in charge of the D.E.O."

* * *

Within a day, Director Henshaw procured a significant amount of data and sent them to Lucy and Alex to analyze while the facility was being rebuilt in another location as it had been compromised.

Kara, on the other hand, was swamped with loads of paperwork from Cat Grant, and spent the majority of her days at CatCo assisting the demanding older woman with her necessities.

Winn and James were belatedly notified about the invasion of the D.E.O. and continued to keep a watchful eye out for Supergirl when she was needed by National City's citizens.

It was a Sunday and Kara was dismissed from work. She did not mind as the young hero deserved at least a few intervals of breaks in between her jobs with saving the world and CatCo.

The blonde greedily opened the refrigerator and set out a plate of chocolate cake, donuts, ice cream, and heated up a pile of burritos with a side of yet another pile of potstickers. She had not had anything to eat all day as she spent her lunch break finishing up her heaps of tasks that were assigned.

She was also still stressed about the attack at the D.E.O., the massacre scarred her memory, and not to mention Lex Luthor slightly frightened the girl of steel with his psycho-narcissistic personality.

Kara ignored the unnerving thoughts and pushed them into the back of her mind, digging into her meal fit for six kings.

By the time she was done she heard a clacking sound, a pair of high heels, most likely Lucy. She belched and opened the door, immediately greeted by a kiss.

"Hey, baby," the brunette purred, setting her purse down onto the coffee table and waltzing back over to kiss Kara again.

The blonde smiled and let out a giggle between her teeth.

"Stop doing that," Lucy pouted.

"Doing what?"

"You always smile in the middle of our kisses. I don't like being interrupted."

"But you think it's cute, don't you?"

"Of course, honey," the brunette chuckled, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Did you and Alex find any new details regarding the data?"

"No, they're all jumbled up unfortunately, we can't seem to piece them togeth - did you eat all of the food?" Lucy backed away from the fridge and tapped her fingers on top of the polished dining table.

"Ummm...no?"

The brunette crossed her arms and arched her brow.

"I stress eat when I'm anxious," Kara mumbled, her hands behind her back and head bowed in shame.

The soldier's face took on a more comforting look, "What's bothering you?"

The Kryptonian fidgeted with her hands and fingers, swaying side to side, "I just...Alex asked me if there would be any reason for Luthor to come to the D.E.O. himself and hand over my files to..."

She took a deep breath and flinched, "Those...doctors."

Lucy winced at the memory and furrowed her eyebrows in worry.

Kara elaborated, "I can't help but feel like...like there's something _off_ about this entire situation."

The brunette contemplated, "I don't know for sure...but I really just think Luthor's agenda is to annihilate any heroic alien wearing red and blue spandex. He has some sort of vendetta against you and Superman."

Lucy frowned, she forgot that his death was taboo to talk about around Kara.

The Kryptonian's face was forlorn, "Kal..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring Clark up."

"It's okay, Luce."

Before the brunette could apologize once again, Alex barged through the door.

"I've got it!"

"Got what, sis?"

"Cadmus is associated with Luthor and Lord, that explains all of the splicing experiments, we already know that," Agent Danvers explained, "But when we found the doctors' bodies, their results were somehow missing along with _all_ of Kara's files. Every single record, gone. I suspected that they all perished in the attack, but there was an anomaly. This paradigm was used as a model for Luthor's next move, he wasn't targeting Kara in the infiltration, he wanted the data."

"But," Lucy countered, "that's a paradox, why would he send an army of Orange Lanterns for a bunch of data?"

"Her files weren't the only ones taken. There were also blueprints, and others that went missing were documents on different aliens Kara had fought against from the letter 'A' right down to the letter 'Z'."

"Can you elaborate?"

"He's being very cautious with Kara, as he's aware that she possesses some abilities greater than Clark did," Alex stated, "He's likely developing a new anti-Kryptonian weapon, and from the looks of it, it seems like a magnanimous project to handle."

"He could've easily sent someone to retrieve all of that data though, that's still a loose end."

"That's where I'm stuck. Nothing else relevant was found in the wreckage."

"What if the front was just a ruse?" Kara suggested, "What if it was just a distraction?"

"From what?" Alex asked, "What have you observed to come to this conclusion?"

"I feel like the Orange Lanterns weren't trying to attack the facility, not initially anyway. They were trying to keep the people out of it."

"What're you inferring?"

"I'm saying that when we escaped the army, they didn't follow, they holed up inside the building. They weren't after me, they made it seem as if they were. And when I ambushed them, they cornered me against the entrance, like they were trying to keep me away from something."

"That makes no sense."

"They didn't attack as hard as they did, and when you guys came into the picture they actually scattered around, to make it more difficult and chaotic, to buy more time."

Alex pressed her tongue against her cheek, "I'll look into that."

"As will I," Lucy added.

Agent Danvers reached for her cell phone to call Director Henshaw, "J'onn, I may have some new intel..."

"Alex! Listen to me. The Orange Lanterns were just a diversion! Report back to the D.E.O. immediately, and bring Supergirl and Director Lane with you."

The agent made her way outside towards her car with the other two following close behind.

"A diversion? From what?"

"They planted something here, it's some sort of signal. And it's not just at the H.Q., the orange lanterns also invaded the central Army, Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard bases."

"A signal? What for?"

Kara and Lucy looked up towards the sky and noticed a vast black void was encircling the sun at an alarming speed.

Then it went dark. Only the synthetic lights of the lamps shone dimly upon the Earth.

"What the hell?" Alex gasped, "What time is it?"

The brunette never took her eyes off from where the sun was, "It's supposed to be one in the afternoon."

Kara checked the digital clock on her phone to make sure, but her screen read that an unknown caller was attempting to contact her.

She picked it up, "Who is this?"

"It's me," replied a singing voice.

"Luthor," she growled.

"Meet me at the main headquarters of LexCorp in National City. Honestly hard to miss. I'd like to have a little chat with you before our final showdown," he chuckled, "Oh, and if there's an off-chance that you won't come over, I'll detonate a bomb and blow off about a hundred or so hostages' heads. See you soon!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	12. Blackout I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is the dawn of Supergirl's first, and hopefully last, confrontation with the genius scientist Lex Luthor, who resides at his industrial estate. She initiates one of the grandest battles that America has ever witnessed since the fight between Doomsday and Superman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Blackout I

* * *

"No!" Lucy shouted, gripping tightly onto her retreating partner's shoulders, "Kara, I'm not letting you go!"

"If I don't those people will die!" the blonde screamed back.

"For all we know he could be bluffing! He's notorious for being a deceiving liar!"

"I'm not willing to take the chance!"

"And I'm not willing to let you go seek him out blindly and get yourself killed!"

"I'm perfectly fine sacrificing my life! You know this!"

"You're going to stand down," the brunette growled, " _That's_ an order."

The Kryptonian's eyes widened, her voice low, "What I do is not up to you."

Kara then sighed, "Let's not talk about this now, okay? I can't keep having this same argument with you over and over again."

The soldier's voice slightly increased in its volume, "So stop avoiding it! Do you have _any_ idea how scared I was during the attack? I thought you..." she trailed off, then picked up her momentum again, "And it's not just that day, it's every single day! I'm terrified all the time, about what could happen to you! I can't just sit at home or at my office, waiting, wondering if you're going to come home, whether or not you made it back!"

"And you assume I don't feel the same? What do you want me to do? You want me to quit? Let Supergirl fade away?" Kara's voice was more firm, "This is who I am, Lucy. I can't just give it up."

Lucy turned to face Alex with a look of desperation, she felt helpless when it came to arguing against Supergirl.

Agent Danvers took a step back, "Woah...I'm going to let you two handle this."

The brunette's eyes narrowed, Alex was quite intimidated and sighed, "Sis...I'm being honest here. Lucy's right, and even if he _is_ serious, the sun is being obscured and you won't be able to garner energy from the solar radiation; that means you won't be able to heal quickly, or at all, if he takes a jab at you. Not to mention he has many weapons at his disposal."

Kara's shoulders sagged.

Lucy added onto Alex's information, "He also took out Superman, with relative ease if you put it in a different perspective. I... _we_...the world can't afford to lose another hero."

Supergirl's forehead creased with empathy, "I understand...but that doesn't influence the choice I've made."

As the brunette was about to open her mouth to protest, Agent Danvers held her back, "You don't _have_ to fight him."

"But I do."

"No, I mean...not in the way you're both thinking."

"Go on, Agent Danvers."

"We have to figure out a way to take down that...Sun Eater, before he commences with his next objective. Kara can distract him, just save the civilians and dodge his attacks until Director Lane and I get rid of that giant blob."

"I'm not liking this layout so far," Lucy commented.

"I'm going to need your expertise, Director."

"And how exactly are you going to get rid of that thing?" the blonde questioned.

"We can pay Luthor's headquarters a visit as well to see if he's holding any documents in a file safe or the like."

"How long do you think that's going to take?"

"Frankly, to get there and analyze the data, probably thirty minutes to an hour assuming he's bumped up his security. To stop the giant ass blob, an additional hour to an hour and a half if we have the right materials and equipment."

"How do we even know if he has any information about these things?"

"He's a scientist, and we _always_ keep our research," Alex explained, "And, if anything goes wrong, scientists always have a backup plan."

Kara nodded slowly, registering the weight of the Earth's dire plight, "Got it, I can hold him off for three hours at the most."

Suddenly Lucy enveloped the young hero in a fierce embrace, her voice cracked, she could feel the tears building up behind her eyelids, "Please...I can't lose you again..."

"You won't. I promise," the blonde whispered softly, brushing the brunette's locks with her fingers, grazing her lips on her forehead, "Stronger together."

For some reason, that oath put her heart to ease and a warm sense of comfort and relief overtook her. Kara always kept her word, and she would never make a promise she could not keep, so this reassured Lucy.

The brunette sighed, "Come back to me, okay?"

"I will."

A rush of wind flared against the love-struck soldier, and she was gone a second later.

Then a voice shook her out of her solemn reverie, "Hey, Director Lane." It was Alex, who was grinning with utter confidence, "Stop dicking around, we've got a world to save."

Lucy laughed, "Right you are, Danvers. Right you are."

* * *

LexCorp's headquarters hardly looked like an industrial factory, it was more of a very ostentatious manor or an estate. It seemed to have been recently built as the walls were lined with lead, preventing Supergirl from utilizing her x-ray vision.

"You won't be able to locate the hostages," Luthor chuckled brightly, strutting his way around the top of the building's platform, "Ah...this gives me some nostalgia."

Kara stalked straight towards the man and lifted him up by the collar of his shirt, "Release them or I swear I'll..."

"Kill me?" Luthor finished, "We know you can't do that. What a pathetic threat. Let me try."

He coughed, clearing his throat, "Ahem...you do anything to me before our battle and I'll blow all of the hostages' teeth into their brains. I remember when Clark Kent was in this collateral position. Only...it was only his mother I took. This time, I decided to give Eliza Danvers some company."

Kara dropped him onto the ground when she saw his devilish grin, her face flared with rage, eyes glowing an intense blue, "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. Yet," he sighed, "Their fates are really up to you, Kara Danvers."

He continued to further explain, "You have maybe...thirty minutes until the automatic timer goes off, let's see how flexible you are facing against that challenge, and against me."

A large robot rocketed right beside him, lifting him from the ground and placing him into the pilot's seat, "Don't worry, this isn't just for show. It's to make it a little more even."

Kara glanced at his mechanical giant and then to where the sun was supposed to be, "This is hardly what one would call _fair_."

"Oh, don't be a poor sport, Kara," he whined, "Clearly you don't see the potential I do. Prove to me that I'm not overestimating you, and hopefully you'll put up a better fight than that cousin of yours."

With that, he launched his thrusters and sped towards Supergirl.

* * *

"You really think we can do this, Agent Danvers?"

"Fifty-fifty," Alex sighed, strapping on her armored vest and lightweight gear, reloading her marksman rifle, "There's a chance he'll be focusing all of his firepower on Kara, that or he's going to tighten up security."

Lucy's face creased with worry.

The older Danvers set her hand on the brunette's shoulder, "Hey...she's going to be just fine."

"Yeah..." came her unsure reply as she fumbled around with her pistols and slung her submachine gun over her neck, "I'll take point, cover me."

"Kara's going to kill me if something happens to you," Alex groaned.

"Likewise, agent," Director Lane smirked, readying her primary weapon and leaning towards her communications device attached to her upper arm, "Vasquez? Do you have a visual on us?"

"Yes, we do."

"How about the floor plans of the building?"

"Yes, you're positioned at the employee back entrance. What you two need to do is make your way down underground towards basement level three, we'll send you the map on your tactical glasses' H.U.D.s. We've also got an insider working for security, so he'll disable the camera trackers and some of the doors for you, but it's good to note that he only has access up to basement level two. Level three has communication scrambling emitters and E.M.P.s, so from then on you guys are on your own."

"Copy that, and we'll try to avoid casualties," Alex answered, taking out her tranquilizer darts and stun gun, "Let's go get them, Director."

Lucy quietly creaked the door open and slipped through stealthily, followed by Danvers, "Two hostiles located at my ten and two, we'll both subdue them, you take left and I take right."

The soldiers silently approached behind the security guards and caught them in a choke hold, and after a minute the guards stopped struggling, unconscious.

They made their way towards the lift and entered the passkey to go to level B2.

An elevator tune began to play from the speakers.

Both stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, then Alex chimed in, "Well, he may be an asshole, but he certainly has good taste in music."

Lucy scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Focus on the mission, Danvers."

The resonant high-pitched ding of the lift alerted the agents that their destination was reached.

The partners exited with their firearms raised, steadying their positions. The environment was a narrow hallway tinted by the red of the dim lights.

"This is strangely...empty."

Alex's simple statement caused Lucy to amplify her caution, "Scour the rooms, don't split up, I'm taking point."

After a few minutes rummaging through each of the two office's files, they came up empty.

"I'm not surprised," Director Lane stated, "He probably keeps all of his documents in B3."

"Let's get to the elevator then," Alex sighed, moving towards the rustic cage to slide it open, waiting for her superior until she pressed the button. The clanking and creaking of the scraping metal grated on their eardrums.

"Our comms are down," Lucy said.

The lowest floor was unexpectedly messy, as if it had been abandoned. The walls were covered in leaking, rusted pipes and rats littered the ground. The smell was deathly putrid, making the soldiers' noses scrunch up in disgust.

"Ugh, God. You're positive this is the place?" Alex asked, plugging her nose, "For a top secret level in a billionaire facility you'd think that he'd install higher tech here."

"There _is_ higher tech here, Agent Danvers," Lucy commented, wiping the dust from a large control system, activating the holographic diagrams.

"What is it, Director?"

"A lexicon. It looks like some sort of weapon, with a scale of three football fields."

"Where is it?"

"No idea."

"Here, let me look at this hunk of junk."

"Deactivate the comm scramblers while you're at it," Lucy said, moving away from the panel.

"I'm a bioengineer, not a hacker. It's not exactly my forte."

"I'm deducing that because of the state of this place, the security is probably going to be just as bad. I'm sure you've developed some basic hacking skills while you were at the D.E.O."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	13. Blackout II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Lucy utilize Kara's distraction as a means of putting a stop to the Sun Eaters.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Blackout II

* * *

Kara was pummeled and crushed right through a nearby structure, causing its columns to break and the building to collapse on top of her. She cleared the rubble and dusted herself off, grunting in frustration.

"Perhaps I did overestimate you," the Luthor sighed, "Your incentive to fight...I just can't feel it... Clark Kent lost his when he finally realized he'd die by my meager human hands."

Supergirl roared with fury, ramming right into the robot, toppling it over.

"Now _that's_ more like it!" he shouted with glee, "By the way, you've got twenty-five minutes. The detonator is in here with me, grab it, crush it, then you can free the hostages from my domain."

He dangled a small device from his hand that looked to be a kill switch.

Kara took a deep breath to calm herself down.

_It's only twenty-five minutes. That's more than enough time to take that thing away from him._

She broadened her shoulders and let out a blast of heat vision, only managing to singe the metallic limb. The blonde huffed in annoyance and flew up high into the air and initiated a frost breath on the same metal arm, diving down she ended up shattering it with her elbow.

"I'm impressed!" Luthor exclaimed, thrusting away from her and releasing a barrage of missiles.

Supergirl hastily dodged the incoming rockets, but one managed to explode next to her, sending her barreling along the ground. The impact took her breath away and she stood up, only to be met with another missile, this time, directly hitting her sternum.

The explosion quite literally rocked her world, she was off-balance, her hearing was impaired, and she could only see flashes of white.

"Like it?" the Luthor asked, though it came to her as jumbled up and slurred words, "They've been infused with flashbangs and concussion grenades, I've been told their influence is very unpleasant."

Kara continued to stumble around, holding her bruised ribs. Eventually she regained her composure and noticed that her nose and head were wet with a thick substance, she spat out the iron taste, wiping the red liquid off of her features.

_Why am I bleeding?_

"Ah," Luthor cackled, "I forgot to mention that they were also laced with Kryptonite. Just a little though, only enough to penetrate the epidermis of your tissue."

He scrutinized her, "Looks like your suit took more of a beating though."

She glanced down at her outfit and realized there were several rips and discoloration.

Kara grit her teeth in pain when she concentrated her attention to her enemy again.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Luthor laughed, "A goddess, bleeding at the hands of a mere mortal."

He struck his robotic fist down, which Supergirl quickly froze against the concrete, running up the arm and smashing through the pilot window. She grabbed the switch but heard a gunshot and felt a sudden pain within her chest as she was easily shaken off.

Supergirl hit the ground. Hard. The movement causing the foreign matter deeper in her chest, dangerously close to her heart.

She remained on the ground, her chest heaving as she reached into the wound and pulled out a shard of Kryptonite, tossing it as far away from her as she could.

_Now I just need to figure out where the hostages are._

Kara destroyed the mechanism and resumed her battle with Lex Luthor.

* * *

"Found it!" Agent Danvers cried, "It's got a biometric scanner though, this might take a while."

"Good," Director Lane acknowledged, then changed the channel of her comms, "Kara? I've found some feed on the hostages, they're positioned a few miles south of LexCorp in an abandoned warehouse that used to belong to Lord Industries."

The blonde blindingly flew towards the location and reached it in a matter of minutes. The warehouse though, was an old building and had begun to erode along with the environment around it. She crashed through the window and found that they were trapped in a large cell. She bent the steel bars open and the civilians proceeded to evacuate. Eliza slid by and gave Kara a nod.

There were only a little over ten civilians left before a large explosion was heard, reducing the building to rubble. However, Supergirl prevented the remaining survivors from getting flattened as she stood between them and a hunk of concrete.

As they were escaping, she felt a sharp pain pierce her back, followed by another and another, but she refused to let the wall of stone fall on her watch. Fortunately, she withstood the bullets enough to provide the final hostage with enough time to escape.

"Your perseverance is truly admirable," the Luthor complimented, "You're quite an interesting specimen of your kind."

Kara flipped the rock over and fell on all fours, panting and sweating with extreme exhaustion. Her strength was being drained, and the fact that there was no sun to provide her with solar radiation made matters even worse.

* * *

"According to the documents, Sun Eaters are artificial organisms that were created by the Maltusian race known as the Controllers as a powerful weapon of mass destruction," Alex informed, "They were nebulas that had the ability to drain entire stars of their energy, and thus, cause a solar system to freeze as well as kill all living beings native to that region of space."

"And how the hell do we stop a thing of that caliber?"

"Lex developed an anti-energy weapon known as the Entropy Bomb," Agent Danvers stated, striding her way over to a large terminal system, "It's shot from a super powered cannon into the core of the Sun Eater, and with its destruction, the Entropy Bomb should be sufficient enough to propel the remains of the Sun Eater away and reignite the star."

"Where'd he acquire enough solar radiation to create another sun?"

"Parallax's energy is sealed within the weapon. He's a parasitic entity born from the yellow of the emotional spectrum: fear," Alex attached a small device onto the chassis of the system, and began to conduct a search for the activation of the bomb.

"I'm familiar with the Sinestro Corps of lanterns that inherited their powers from it," Lucy sighed, "I thought the Green Lantern took care of Parallax though?"

"Apparently Lex managed to get his hands on some of its life force before it perished."

"And where exactly is this weapon?"

Alex stopped typing, her voice was filled with a tone of surprise, "It's...It's here...this entire facility is the bomb."

Right then the alarms went off, the intercom repeating, "Intruder alert."

* * *

"It looks like your friends successfully made it to their objective," Luthor said nonchalantly, shrugging, "It's the least I expect from two of the most skilled operatives of the D.E.O. Aha! It also looks like the sentry's been activated, unfortunate that the organization you work for is about to lose two of its most prominent members."

Kara widened her eyes and shouted into her comms, "Alex! Lucy! Get out of there!"

"We're on it!" the soldiers yelled back, behind the cover of the steel crates as a large machine continued to unload its machine gun in their direction.

"Director Lane, we have five minutes to get out of here before the cannon activates."

"Agent Danvers, do you still have that smoke bomb?" Lucy asked, reloading her pistols.

"Yeah. Do you think that the sentry has thermal detection?" Alex replied with another question, finger pulling on the pin of her grenade.

"Fifty-fifty," the brunette chuckled.

"Worth a shot. On three. One. Two. _Three!_ " Danvers propelled the object, clanking onto the steel of the sentry.

Both of them sprinted towards the elevator, Director Lane took the front and shot at the fire extinguishers, causing them to fling themselves around the room as the doors closed.

But one of the sentry's bullets hulked through a few crates and sliced into Lucy's skin just as the elevator shut.

"Shit!" the brunette yelped in pain, falling on her knees and applying pressure onto her left hip.

"Let me take a look," Alex sat her down against the wall and observed the wound, "Luckily, it's not that deep thanks to those crates that dulled its initial velocity. We can get you patched up easy once this is over."

* * *

Kara's energy was extremely lacking, she could barely keep her stance firm and her fists upright, all she could focus on was breathing when she took blow after blow after blow. There was no part of her body that was not hurting, and finally, she fell.

Suddenly a quake rumbled the ground, followed by a white pillar of light that shot through the sky into the trajectory of the sun.

The Kryptonian blurrily spotted her sister and lover emerging from the crater's ashes of what was formerly LexCorp. She gave them a relieved smile and they reciprocated.

But their faces were shrouded by a large silhouette.

Lex was targeting them now.

As he pulled his hand back to smash the two into bloody pancakes, the sun's rays shined through and gifted Kara with renewed strength to match her panicked desperation.

She boosted off of the ground and plunged straight through the back of the Luthor's giant suit and out the chest, tackling his body from the machine and into the opposite building.

The soldiers followed suit, Alex sprinted while Lucy limped as fast as she could to catch up with them.

When she arrived at the scene, it was not a pleasant one.

Luthor's neck snapped into a deformed shape, and his body was mangled, skin painted with blood.

That sight didn't bother her, not as much as Alex attempting to calm down her hyperventilating little sister, who repeated a chilling statement with harsh whispers.

"I...I k-killed him..."

She reeled back, "I killed him..."

Then Kara's exhaustion took over and she fainted, surrounded by the crumbling wreckage of National City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	14. Penitence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy can't seem to catch a break despite all of her efforts, especially Kara, who continues to struggle with the aftermath of her ravaging duel. Their relationship has never faced a greater challenge.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: HEAVY ANGST.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Penitence

* * *

The sun's rays were successfully restored, but Kara's beaming light disappeared, her face constantly projected a darkening mood.

At Lucy's pleading, she sought medical attention with the D.E.O.'s psychiatrist and psychologist a week later, who both diagnosed her with major depressive disorder. Neither of them were unfamiliar with that process. Kara, who used to be so happy and so bright, regardless of how hopeless the situation was; who was kind, patient, and tolerant to others whether she liked them or not. All of those aspects that made her Kara disappeared the moment she saved Alex and Lucy from death's daunting gaze, turning the tables on Lex Luthor.

The disturbed blonde was on medical leave from CatCo, and did not work much for the D.E.O. as there had been a strange absence of threatening alien activity. She spent most of her days curled up in a fetal position in bed, her wistful eyes barely peeking out of the covers, rarely eating, never setting foot out of the apartment. Her mental stupor caused her to remain in an almost catatonic state. She seldom talked, but when she did her voice was tiny and it held no confidence, she mostly communicated through the nodding or shaking of her head. She never sat at the dinner table anymore, which prompted Lucy to deliver her meal on a plate; it was always left untouched atop the nightstand.

The brunette could only helplessly watch as her lover delved deeper into the pits of despair.

The doctors said that everyone dealt with depression in their own way, and that their loved ones should hold patience and wait for them to return home. Some might take longer than others to recover, but the majority of the time it was short-lived is what they said. However, they neglected, or rather chose not, to tell Lucy that this wound of Kara's would possibly never heal, never scar over. She would continue to bleed and carry that burden the rest of her life.

J'onn was the only other person that knew the extent of her situation besides Alex and Lucy, the rest of the world either berated her or praised her for the death of Lex Luthor.

However, none of them could deeply understand Supergirl's inner plight. J'onn, Alex, and Lucy were bred as soldiers, they have killed on orders from their superiors and almost never questioned it, they were prepared for the weight it carried.

Kara was not.

The younger Lane soon came to realize that her lover's unintentional avenging of Clark's death had caused an irreparable impact. Even Alex's faith in her little sister's resolve was destabilized, the young hero's resilience was tested beyond its limits. Kara was at an impasse, now a pitiful child worn out from the world's problems and expectations. Her facial expressions were distant, cold, and stiff, like cynicism overcame her prior hopeful demeanor.

Lucy would be lying if she said she was not frustrated and hurt by Kara's defensive maneuver to detach herself from her relationships. The brunette felt as if an impenetrable wall surrounded the young hero, forcing her into solitude, her thoughts isolated from everyone else, only deep remorse and loneliness keeping her company.

It was psychologically jarring for the blonde. Winn, James, Alex, and sometimes even J'onn would come to visit individually to check up on Kara. Her older sister eventually held gatherings at the apartment at least once a week, and even Lois showed up. The younger Danvers was truly grateful, but they served as a constant reminder that everything was not normal, that her life had become warped since the battle. One day, Kara abruptly yelled at everyone, shouting at them to leave her alone, flipping the table over. Alex apologized to everybody of her unwarranted explosion, her tantrum breaking several plates. The damaged girl knew that it was uncalled for and she regretted it the moment she stormed out and stomped into her bedroom, soon she called her friends that had to experience her outburst to apologize profusely. They all sympathized with her, glad that she got some of the rage off of her chest. Her request was answered, the gatherings stopped and she only socialized with her friends if she willingly sought them out.

Lucy. She was a different story. She was immediately there for every single trivial thing that she could possibly need. The brunette knew Kara absolutely dreaded feeling helpless so she gave her the physical and emotional space that she needed. Lex's use of Kryptonite on her restricted some of her movements the first few weeks, so Lucy always went out of her way to rearrange wires and re-position furniture to make the most ideal, non-hazardous environment for her partner, like she did when she herself was injured. The dishes' and silverwares' locations were moved for better access, the remote control was always within reach, all of Kara's favorite foods and movies magically appeared in the refrigerator and shelves, and she always woke up to the sight of homemade breakfast. In the meantime, the soldier continued to be the young hero's anchor.

Lucy never demanded or asked of anything from her, never forced her to talk about her feelings as she had hoped Kara would seek her out when she was ready. She waited weeks, then they passed by like a haze, she had initially thought the blonde's emotional release would improve things. Her passions became mild, then she became disinterested, opting to never leave her room. They spoke to each other less, only consisting of daily niceties like "good morning" or "how are you" or "how was your day". When it was bedtime Kara would move as far away from Lucy as possible, laying on the edge with her back turned.

The brunette immensely desired to talk to her, about anything, but was uncertain and worried she would worsen things. Eventually, she turned to Alex, who was just as pained as she was.

"I've...I've tried _everything_. I don't know what to do anymore. She's not budging," Lucy's tone was hopeless.

"I know," the auburn-haired woman nodded solemnly, "I have as well. We want answers that no one can give us. Even my mom, who always seemed to hold the key to cheering Kara up, doesn't know what to do."

"It's been _four_ months, that's one-third of an entire year!"

"I know..."

The younger Lane pondered Lois's comment on the matter from a few days ago, she said, "I know that you and Alex both love her dearly, but you both need to put yourselves in consideration as well. You're caring for her at the expense of yourselves, and that's not sustainable. You can't always be secondary. Sooner or later something's going to break."

Lucy sighed, blinking the tears away.

Kara loved them both very much, but she could not help but partially blame them for what happened. It was unreasonable, she knew. Their interactions with one another continued to lessen, and Alex distracted herself with the busy work life of the D.E.O. to cope, hoping to give her little sister more time to heal. Lucy though, she never gave up, but her resolve continued to diminish after every rejected invitation she received when she wanted to do something together. In time, even the strong soldier's light was drained, complementing her partner's lack as well.

It did not go unnoticed.

"You deserve better."

Lucy paused, hovering the plate of food just above the nightstand as per usual, "W-What?"

Silence.

"You deserve to be happy."

"What...what're you saying?"

"I'm saying..." Kara sat up harshly, "that I don't want to be responsible for what you're feeling right now. I know that I'm effecting you too."

"I'm not doing this with you."

"Well, _I_ am."

The brunette hesitated before sitting on the bed, intertwining their fingers like they have not done in months, "You may have given up, but I haven't. Not on you. Not on us. I'm still fighting."

Kara's nostrils flared and anger flashed in her eyes, she retracted her hand, "I don't want to fight anymore! Don't you get it, Lucy!"

The blonde stormed out of the apartment, seething with rage.

This time, she really hoped that this was the release that her beloved needed.

But it was around two in the morning and she had not come back home. Lucy paced in the living room, grumbling worriedly before finally deciding to call Kara's older sister, "Alex?"

"Yeah?" the woman yawned on the other line, "What's up?"

"Is she with you?"

Agent Danvers immediately knew who she was referring to, "No, but she did ask me if I wanted to go to the local bar with her. I said I'd love to but she suddenly changed her mind."

"I'll go look for her, she was talking about the one near our apartment, right? A few blocks away?"

"Yeah, want me to come with?"

"No, it's okay, you can go back to sleep. It's within walking distance. Thank you."

Alex wanted to argue but decided against it as she thought it was best for the couple to settle things by themselves. She wanted to help mitigate whatever Kara would say as she had gotten more aggravated and irritable.

Her phone disconnected and she went back to bed.

Lucy, on the other hand, pulled on her jeans and Kara's favorite sweater before taking the umbrella out of the closet as the heavy rain thundered on the roof. She paused, pulling out a small box from the drawer. The brunette held it close to her heart, reinforcing her strength before she strode out of the door.

* * *

"Hey..."

Kara turned towards the reluctant voice and scrutinized its source, slurring her words, "Lucy."

"Are you... _drunk_?"

"Yeah!" the blonde chuckled, "Turns out I just need to drink a shit ton to get intoxicated!"

The man behind the bar commented, "Like...a _shit_ ton."

Lucy glared at the bartender before glancing gently back at her girlfriend, "Let's go home."

Kara retreated, "I don't _want_ to go home! Not with _you_! I _hate_ you! Did you even consider the fact that I left to get _away_ from you!"

The brunette reeled back, the blunt outburst hit her hard, "I-I know you don't mean that."

"How do _you_ know what I feel! Just...go away!"

Lucy obliged, backing off so as not to cause a scene.

It was three in the morning when the blonde came stumbling out of the bar in her inebriated state, shocked by the pouring rain, which suddenly stopped. Kara looked up to see her lover's patient and kind face, holding up the umbrella and draping her own coat around her, voice gentle, "Let's go home."

No response.

It was now or never.

Opening the lid of the small jewelry box, she cradled a bracelet that to her, held an immense amount of love, "It's a charm bracelet I bought for you, each ornament represents a significant event. A copper-bronze box for the day I moved in, a chocolate pie for our food fight, blue and green orbs to match our eyes, a sparkle for the time we stargazed, a raindrop for the day you flew us home when my car broke down and it was pouring, a heart for our first time, and..."

However, the romantic gesture only served to intensify Kara's distress, she slapped her hand away, in turn making the umbrella and bracelet fly onto the concrete ground, neither of them minding the drenching rain, "You don't get it do you? I don't _want_ to be with you anymore! I'm breaking up with you! I can't look at you and relive the moment that I _murdered_ someone! Just...leave! Don't you realize you're doing all of this in vain? I _can't_ be fixed! By _anyone_!"

Lucy inhaled deeply, her stinging tears overflowing and mixing with the rain, "Kara, I don't need a 'thank you' or anything in return. I just want you to get better, so please, let me do that; I care about you, I love you so much."

The blonde was crying as well, both their visions were blurred, by the rain or by the tears they did not know. Lucy reached up to caress Kara's cheek, but her arm was roughly slapped away.

" _Don't_...touch me..."

The broken hero turned and walked off, but before she could go any farther, Lucy caught up and gripped her shoulder, "Please...don't go. If you do...I don't know if...if I can go on like this. I can give you more time, more space, anything, but please...don't go...there won't be anything left of me to give you..."

Kara faced her lover and saw beautiful verdant eyes that harbored a hint of hope, but she replied with a low and shaky voice, "I'm sorry..."

Her statement held such stark and definitive finality that it disturbed the brunette.

Kara watched the forest jade hue darken, the last of its compelling light completely fading from her now ex-girlfriend's eyes, same as her own.

Then she roughly removed the hand on her shoulder and walked away, the sound of the gravel trailing her footsteps, leaving Lucy's shattered heart in its wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	15. Targeted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maxwell Lord and the General desire to further crush Supergirl's fragile emotional state.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Targeted

* * *

Kara returned to the apartment two days later from Alex's and noticed that it was somehow emptier. She realized that it was devoid of Lucy's important belongings and the happy memories they shared. However, it seemed she was in a rush to escape as the majority of her clothes and objects she deemed as replaceable was untouched. It was not until now that she figured the choice she made last night was a mistake due to her drunken stupor; she could still feel the hangover lingering, but it did not stop her from crumbling to the floor and breaking down into body-wracking sobs. She hated herself for making one of the closest people in her life endure such emotional stress.

But it was for the best. For Lucy.

* * *

_James sighed, "Look, I've known for a while that you've had feelings for her. A long time actually."_

_He paused, Kara unwilling to break the silence, then, "Lucy and I aren't together anymore. So what's holding you back?"_

_The blonde sighed and brushed her unruly locks with her fingers, "She doesn't feel the same way about me, and she never will."_

_He scoffed, "How will you know if you don't give it a chance?"_

" _Okay, fine. Suppose I did ask her out, and she said yes...you saw what happened between Adam and I. People aren't safe around me."_

_Kara gazed down from the balcony of CatCo, her eyes thoughtful, "Being Supergirl...it comes with a cost."_

" _That's crap and you know it. Look at your cousin. Clark manages. Maybe you're just scared."_

 _The hero felt irked, "Can you blame me? James, I've lost_ everything _and_ everyone _I've ever loved: my parents, my friends, Aunt Astra, my entire home."_

_She began to make her way back into the building, "I can't risk losing her too. This is just how it needs to be."_

* * *

Lucy did not fare so well either, calling Lois at the last minute and requesting in uneven breaths if she could stay with her in Metropolis for a while. They were never that close, in fact, it would be more accurate to call their relationship with one another estranged, but they were still sisters and they still cared. So, Lois did not hesitate to say yes, for if it was one thing they shared, they both lost someone special to them.

However, Lucy was thankful that the business of her position kept her occupied, and she spent most of her time holed up in her office at the D.E.O. Supergirl preferred to be contacted through earpiece by Alex, who debriefed her with details of her mission so she would not have to encounter her ex at the facility.

J'onn and Agent Danvers silently thanked their deities that they did not have to suffer through the potential awkwardness of the breakup, so were Winn and James, but they were all still worried for the two women.

* * *

After a week, Lucy noticed a discrepancy with the data that they collected from Lord Industries and LexCorp, which was now being run by Lena Luthor, who was more than willing to disclose any information that would aid the organization.

Director Lane decided to conduct a meeting with her highest ranked operatives.

"The Calculator and Riddler have been very quiet, along with Deathstroke and Hush. I suspect that someone higher up in the chain is directing them, possibly the General or Maxwell Lord."

"Are you saying that they've been dispatched on a mission?" an agent asked.

"Yes, and that they're most likely targeting the Pentagon. I was also notified by General Lane that there would be a top-secret convention being held there within a few days, with the world's leaders and highest officials attending. What is peculiar to me, is that they need to send four ingenious criminals."

"That's preposterous!" another agent shouted, "The Department of Defense is protected with the best security technology mankind can build!"

"That doesn't mean it's impossible to infiltrate. Hush is a master of disguise and Deathstroke and him are mercenaries. They're merciless when it comes to money. But Calculator and Riddler, they crave knowledge, and I think they're going to hack into the building's database simultaneously."

"Then we can tell them to bump up security tenfold."

"I'm not sure that'll even stop them in the slightest bit," Lucy sighed, "I'm going to send a large squadron to the Pentagon and hopefully they can gather some intel. Dismissed."

Alex slid next to the sleep deprived woman, "You need to rest, overworking isn't exactly the healthiest way to cope."

The soldier ignored her advice, "Is she okay?"

"Honestly..." the older Danvers started, "I haven't seen her that often, but she's been avoiding me less, and I'm sure that she's doing worse without you."

"Right..." came the bitter retort.

"Hey...I know you two can sort this out. Kara still loves you. She did what she thought was best for you and her, only I don't think it really worked out the way she wanted it to, but things have a way of aligning themselves."

"I haven't given up on her if that's what you're trying to imply, Danvers."

"I know," Alex chuckled, "But...aren't you going to send her with the team to the Pentagon? She probably wants to find out what's going on as much as we do."

"Supergirl has other things to worry about. Besides, I - the world," she corrected herself, "...the world can't risk losing her."

* * *

Kara rudely stormed into Lucy's office unannounced, "Why!"

The brunette casually glanced up her papers and swallowed her emotions, "Why what?"

The Kryptonian stalked up to the desk and slammed her fists down, causing the wood to groan from the force, "Why didn't you let me go with them!"

"National City simply needs you to remain here," came the calm answer.

"So you sent dozens of agents to their deaths?"

That struck a nerve. Lucy glared up at the blonde, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she narrowed her eyes.

"I sent them to garner intel, not fight," the brunette scoffed, slightly offended.

"And if they have no other choice?"

"Sometimes you must concede a battle to win a war. Sacrifices are necessary."

"How could you say that!"

The woman slammed her fists down, "Goddammit, I'm a soldier! _Not_ a hero! I'm not constantly driven to fix everything for everyone!" Lucy growled, pointing an accusatory finger at her, "I can't be a perfect, selfless knight in shining spandex and a flowy cape like you! I'm human! I make mistakes! But I learn from them too! Sometimes I can't help but make inconsiderate and thoughtless choices, despite what my position means to others!"

Finally, she admitted, "I would gladly sacrifice the lives of strangers if it meant I could save the people I love."

"I-I could never do that..." the young hero whispered hoarsely.

"You don't know until you've experienced it for yourself." At this point the brunette was attempting to cool her breathing.

Suddenly Lucy realized a subconscious part of her intent on sending the teams of agents to the Pentagon. It was to protect _her_ , albeit in a selfish and cruel way. The Director's dedication to her operatives was undoubtedly strong and her leadership was unquestionably objective, but if she were to select between the world and Kara, she would not hesitate to choose the latter. However, the Kryptonian remained oblivious to that fact, and also the fact that she would do the same.

"Please," the soldier said sternly, turning away, her stance firm, "Leave."

"I..."

"That's an _order_ , Supergirl."

Kara immediately backed off, and retreated to the exit, gliding past Alex's forlorn gaze.

* * *

Lucy has had her fair share of pain as well; her parents' divorce, the loss of her mother, always living in Lois's shadow, and her gradual estrangement from her entire family. During her time serving in the Army, she had witnessed suffering and war when she was stationed in Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip in Palestine. So many comrades under her command were lost, mostly due to unforeseen circumstances, but she could not help but blame her inability as a leader and friend to her soldiers. She left the horrors back in the Middle East, but she also could not help taking some of the trauma with her. Since her promotion to the rank of major, she had not been in the field as often, opting to work behind the lines as she was an integral asset. However, she would miss it on occasion, hence she requested to be dispatched much more than necessary as others in her position.

The brunette shuddered at the memories, strolling along the snow-covered sidewalk, only lit by the street lamps and luminescence of the moon, complemented with several snowflakes that floated in the air. At least she did not shut herself in Lois's household as often as she did when she first moved in. Lucy found it relaxing to be alone at night; she did not mind the unfamiliarity of Metropolis, and she could handle herself just fine from muggers and thugs. Besides, the area that she went out at night was not as sketchy as when she was on patrol duty in a restricted section during her time as a private or sergeant.

It was mostly to divert her attention away from Kara. Since their confrontation in the Director's office, they made even less contact afterwards if that was even possible.

Lucy kicked the snow on the concrete and sighed, shivering at the cold. She neglected to bring any warm accessories, but her long coat would suffice as she stuffed her frozen hands into the fuzzy pockets.

Their breakup was more closely described as bittersweet. Bitter for obvious reasons as they still yearned for one another. Sweet because they were thankful that they had experienced such love.

However, their reasons for ignoring each other were slightly different. Lucy refused to be a token, a memoir, allocated to Lex Luthor's untimely death, and respected the Kryptonian's wish to be left alone. Kara was telling the truth when she said that the brunette reminded her of that fateful day, but it was mostly to protect her, to keep her safe. If Supergirl's enemies were given the tiniest hint that her former lover could be utilized as leverage, they would not hesitate to jump at the opportunity. She was worried for Alex as well, but J'onn's attachment assured her that her older sister would be in the safest hands at the D.E.O.

Unfortunately for the young hero, the attempt to defend her ex-girlfriend proved fruitless.

A tall, looming shadow several feet away was slowly approaching Lucy, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but she thought nothing of it as her job always called for caution, it was a natural reaction. It made her no less skeptical though.

She eyed the silhouette's every move, hand prepped to pull out her pistol. Once they were a few feet away, Lucy noticed the man reached behind him.

They both drew their weapons out, but he was much faster, releasing two darts from the chamber, injecting her neck with some unknown fluid.

Lucy's vision doubled and she collapsed onto her hands, and as she heard the footsteps reach a closer proximity, she swiped up her gun and pulled the trigger.

"Shit!" the man hissed in pain, clutching his shoulder, then he chuckled like a maniac, "I _like_ you! Got some fight in there!"

The figure emerged from the shadows and cupped her cheek. He was clean shaven and bald. His face was as pale as a ghost, skin as smooth as alabaster. The brunette spotted a row of tally marks on his collar bone.

"V-Victor...Zsasz..."

"Mmm...like how that substance feels under your skin?" he grinned, "I synthesized the drug myself, along with the help of Hugo Strange of course, and the Mad Hatter and Scarecrow, whom you'll meet momentarily. I take credit for most of the work though, but I don't know what to call it yet."

He gave a creepy smile and tapped his fingers on his chin, pondering, "Well, I've only ever tested on animals. This is the first time I've gotten a human specimen. Should I call it...Lucile?"

"Mr. Zsasz," a feminine voice called.

Victor rolled his eyes and straightened his posture, "Yes, Sandra?"

"Lady Shiva," she corrected, "And I highly recommend that you take her already, Dr. Tetch and Dr. Crane don't like to be kept waiting."

"But I wanted to play a little!" he complained.

"If it'll stop your incessant whining, please do."

Lucy looked to her side and gazed up at the woman, who was clad in a black neoprene suit. She stumbled to her feet and swung a sloppy punch towards her. Unfortunately, the grandmaster of martial arts countered her messy offensive and flipped her over to pin her down.

"You're annoying," the Asian woman sneered.

"Really?" Victor gasped, "She's my favorite out of all the victim's I've tortured so far!"

He sprang over and clapped his hands with glee, "I'm going to have _so_ much fun with you!"

* * *

The brunette woke up crudely strapped onto a metal chair, her breathing and heartbeat were erratic, likely due to the drug. She shook her head hoping it would clear her vision, but the migraine worsened. Lucy grunted in frustration, ceasing her movements, as they only served to amplify her pain.

"She's awake!" Victor shouted with excitement, rushing up to her, "How do you feel?"

The soldier spat in his face, and he laughed heartily, "Better than I thought!"

"W-What did you...do to me?" she slurred.

"Nothing much, I gave you a dosage of about twenty milliliters. Quite a large sum compared to my other test subjects. Would you like to hear the details?"

"Spare me," she answered dryly.

He ignored her answer and rolled a stool over to sit on, "Great! So, Dr. Crane and Dr. Tetch classified this drug as a sedative, or a narcotic opioid. _Quite_ addictive, and I'd argue the most addictive in the world, but that's debatable. With Luthor's and Lord's money, we were able to manufacture it in various forms. I want to name it after you, Lucile, but I'm still negotiating with Mr. Strange on that matter."

Victor cleared his throat and cracked his knuckles before continuing, "Don't worry though, I didn't inject enough into your system that you're hooked to it. Yet. The doctors reckoned that it's a few orders of magnitudes more powerful than...was it heroin? Cocaine? Never mind. Again, it's arguable. The side effects of the abuse is a growing list, and I'll start with ones that occurred within ninety percent of our patients. Ahem...we're going to keep testing your resistance to it while you're here, so you're definitely going to experience delirium, convulsions, hypertonia, hyperreflexia, vomiting, blah, blah, blah. And if we overdose you, by mistake of course...coma, kidney failure, cardiac or respiratory arrest..."

"We'll make sure not to kill you until Supergirl arrives," Dr. Crane interrupted, the heavy footsteps of his polished shoes thumping on the staircase.

Lucy clenched her fists and exhaled through her nostrils.

"Oh..." he chuckled, "Very protective, aren't we? Now, tell me...would you rather watch your Kryptonian pet be tortured to death, or would you rather have your positions swapped? Either way, I can guarantee that she will experience the most amount of pain we can offer."

Victor clicked his tongue and whistled, "Boy...the doctor of fear himself."

Then he turned to Lucy, "And between you and I, we developed a vaccine to counteract that drug."

He winked, "I reckon you'd do just about _anything_ to get your hands on that serum for Supergirl. No pressure."

Zsasz patted her shoulders, causing her to flinch at the pain, and strode away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	16. Bait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supergirl commences her own mission: rescue her ex-girlfriend.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: TORTURE AND VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Bait

* * *

"We've found traces of Director Lane's blood a few blocks away from where she lives, we're positive that she was taken captive by at least two criminals roughly five hours ago and they clearly wanted to make a show of it."

Kara was visibly shaking at this news, with her older sister attempting to comfort her, giving hugs and whispering into her ear that she would be "just fine", only Alex was unsure of who she was referring to.

* * *

Lucy's sweating tremors refused to stop, and she'd only received one injection within the few hours of her capture.

The soldier lost track of time, but she was sure it was already the next day, eventually the D.E.O. would come looking for her.

The sound of clacking heals drew her attention, Lady Shiva, followed by Zsasz.

"Unstrap her," Victor ordered.

"And if she tries to escape?"

"She's fucking doped up, do you really think she'll pose a threat?"

"If I've learned anything in all of my years, it's not to underestimate anyone," she sighed, untying the prisoner and kicking the chair from under her.

Lucy grunted as she slammed onto the concrete, continuing to tremble.

"See?" the young man said, cracking his neck, "She can't even stand. Poor little thing."

"And just to make sure of that..." the woman slid out her dagger and plunged it into the soldier's thigh, who let out a screech.

"We're ready to broadcast the message," a voice sang.

"Got it, Jervis," Victor scoffed, rolling his eyes, and turning to face the camera, while Shiva made her way up the stairs.

"Dr. Tetch," the man corrected.

The serial killer ignored him and prepared his golden voice, dialing a number on his phone, "Good afternoon, Ms. Danvers!"

"Ummm...who's this I'm speaking to?"

A chuckle sounded from the other line, "Oh, you'll find out soon enough, but right now...I have something you might want to see, so open up your laptop."

Kara was startled to be greeted with a shirtless man on her monitor, but he had scars all over his body.

She instantly recognized him, "Victor Zsasz..."

"Ah...the last daughter of Krypton. I'm honored you know my name," he put his hands on his hips and picked up the camera, causing the footage to shake, but it eventually focused on Lucy, who was sprawled on her side through the dimly lit room.

Kara observed the pool of blood accumulating around the brunette's thigh. Victor slightly pressed his foot near the wound, causing it to gush out more of the red liquid, seeping out around the knife that was still embedded into her skin.

She fumed once she heard Lucy's whimper of pain, "Don't touch her!"

"I've got to admit," he sighed, "You picked quite the fighter. Very wise choice."

The weight increased and she heard a grotesque snap of bone followed by a muffled scream.

"I said don't touch her!" Kara growled.

Victor scoffed, "I don't think you're in the position to make demands."

He closed his fingers around Lucy's neck and squeezed.

The brunette struggled against his arms, but was pinned down by his weight. Eventually, she stilled, slowly choking, the whites of her eyes turning red, indicating that some veins have been ruptured due to lack of oxygen.

"What do you want!" Kara cried, "Just tell me, please!"

He halted his movements, letting go of his victim's throat to stand up. Lucy gulped in heaves of air, the unpleasant burning in her lungs ebbing. The man stretched his latex gloves on, flicking at a syringe. The young woman shook her head and attempted to crawl away, "Please...don't. No more..."

Victor roughly dragged her back to the center of the camera and injected the drug into her veins, "Thirty milliliters this time, all at once too, I'm not sure if she can survive this one... Care to watch the show with me?"

The camera was aimed at the soldier, who was convulsing for around forty seconds until she stiffened.

"Oops, I think she's dead," Victor chuckled sheepishly, feeling around for a pulse.

Kara felt tears escaping her eyes, "Stop!"

He gasped, zooming in on Lucy's pale face and dilated eyes, "Oh! She's alive! Barely, but alive nonetheless! I'm immensely impressed!"

The maniac winked into the camera, "She's a keeper! But she's mine now, unless of course, you decide to come and get her. Alone. I'll text you the details. If I even suspect that you brought backup, I'll kill her, and send you a lovely video. Such a pretty little face too, a shame really."

The beaten soldier twitched, hoarsely whispering, "Don't...come for me... It's-"

Victor groaned, kicking Lucy in the belly, causing her to vomit bloodied stomach acid, "Shut the fuck up! Should I break your jaw too?"

He continued, "This bitch just doesn't know when to stop. Now...before we were so _rudely_ interrupted."

But Kara did not let him continue as she smashed the laptop into smithereens.

Her phone vibrated, she received a text from a very angry Victor Zsasz and the address location, complemented with a smiley face.

She nearly crushed her phone, but decided it would be best if she contacted her sister.

* * *

"Hey," Alex cooed, patting her distraught little sister's back, "We're going to find her. I promise."

Kara abruptly stood up and began to pace around her apartment, "For all we know they could've killed her already!"

"You can't think like that. Your girlfriend is a tough survivor."

"What was I thinking? I knew I should've just kept my identity a secret, she'd be safe! What was I thinking, dragging Lucy into this? I should've known..."

Alex interrupted, "Kara, _none_ of this is your fault."

The blonde sighed in despair, "Of course it is. If I wasn't with Lucy, none of this would've happened! She'd be here! Safe and sound! And now...I-I don't know what to do," she took a deep breath and whispered hoarsely, "Alex...I can't lose anyone else..."

"And you won't," the agent replied, "I promise you, we're going to get her home."

"I have to go alone or else they'll kill her; I can't have the D.E.O. behind my back!"

"I won't let you, it's too dangerous."

"But she'll die!"

Alex nodded, blinking slowly, but reluctantly, "You're going to go against my demands anyway. I know how much she means to you. Even though I'm aware of how capable you are...just...be careful, okay?"

"I will."

"I'm going to give you a few hours to get her back, but after that I'm sending in troops. I'll station them out a few miles away."

* * *

"How long has it been since you've contacted Supergirl?" Dr. Crane inquired.

"Scarecrow!" the scarred man exclaimed, "It's been around twenty minutes, she should be here soon enough, so let's tie up the bait."

"She's definitely hooked onto the poison," the doctor stated, "Experiencing the adverse effects of withdrawal within forty minutes of application, especially cravings. Increase the toxin concentration for the next dosage."

"A blip appeared on the radar, assuming it's Supergirl," Shiva said from behind a terminal, "Estimated time of arrival is about three to five minutes."

* * *

Kara reached her destination, an old factory located on the outskirts of National City. She entered the dark facility, it was rustic, old, dusty, and had countless cobwebs decorating every corner. It was pitch black thanks to the night sky, the moon not even serving a substantial amount of light as the windows were boarded up.

The blonde activated her x-ray vision and scanned the empty space, only the echoes of her footsteps accompanying her. She felt a droplet splash onto the shoulder of her cape, then another on her face. It was not water, much too thick to be so. Kara glanced to the roof of the building, and surely enough, the person she was looking for was tightly strapped onto the ceiling, wounds dripping blood onto the puddle it made at her feet.

She was alarmed at the sight and instantly flew up and began to untie her restraints, "Lucy? Are you with me?"

"K-Kara? No. Don't. You need to get out of here. Now."

The hero noticed the slurred words, profuse sweating and trembling, and cupped her face, "You're shaking."

"Th-They...drugged me... And they're going to do the same to you, so get away while you still can. Please."

The Kryptonian shook her head vehemently, her worry increasing as she heard Lucy's uneven breaths and fluctuating heart, "No. Not without you."

"You don't understand. Everyone at the Pentagon...they're going to die."

"What?"

"All of those agents...good men and women...with parents, siblings, and children..." her voice cracked, "My dad..."

Supergirl was shocked at the revelation, but before she could respond, a wave of force thrust her onto the floor.

Victor whistled, "Terrible landing, I score one out of ten. How disappointing."

Kara alternated her sight rapidly from her opponent to Lucy.

He noticed the eye movement and pointed to his victim, "I suppose you want her down?"

She simply glared.

The killer took out two serrated projectiles and hurled them at the restraints, cutting the last of the ties, releasing Lucy.

The blonde leaped into the air and caught her, utilizing her body as a shield to reduce the impact of the fall.

Victor gave a slow clap and chuckled, "Now _that_ was a landing worthy of a score of eight, in my opinion of course."

"You're coming with me," she growled, "And you're going to fix whatever the hell you did to her! Because you _don't_ want to know what I'm really capable of."

"Oh, I do want to know, darling. And I have the cure too, not only does it destroy the substance at a speedy rate, but it can regenerate muscle and tissue as well!" he reached into his coat and showed a capped syringe filled with a clear blue liquid, "But let's make this fight a little fairer. I know we're both on par with our abilities, but I'd like to think I have better agility, and your strength is easily thousands of times stronger than mine."

The man pulled out glowing green brass knuckles, "Highly concentrated Kryptonite of course."

A thin figure appeared next to him, Lady Shiva, who was adorned with gauntlets made from the same material.

"This is hardly fair," the young hero remarked, recalling her conversation with Lex Luthor prior to their battle.

Victor shrugged, "We're bad guys, plus you're up against two measly humans. How hard could it be?"

Then he winked.

Supergirl quickly analyzed her opponents; it was the best option to focus on Zsasz since his style of fighting was wild and unpredictable according to his criminal record. Lady Shiva, on the other hand, was a grandmaster with tactical analysis on her side, meaning she could predict what her enemies would do based on their body language. Though she could control her nervous system not to feel pain and even decrease blood flow, it did not mean she was impossible to incapacitate. Victor would likely hold back since he had a martial arts master at his side, but she was outnumbered and they would double-team her. However, Supergirl could far easily subdue her opponents in one hit, that is if she could evade them long enough to time it at the correct moment.

Easier said than done.

Lucy groaned, watching the three blurry figures trade blow after blow, but it seemed that the villains had the upper hand as they consecutively dodged Kara's attacks and retaliated, causing the blonde to stumble.

She wiped her eyes to clear her vision.

The Kryptonian suffered multiple injuries, knuckles making contact with her face, chest, ribs, and stomach. Lady Shiva moved with grace and fluidity compared to Victor Zsasz's spontaneous actions. Such contradictions complemented each other well in battle, and their agility was absolutely splendid. Just a second later, the maniac made an error in judgement, Kara punched his shoulder and the strength of her hit sent him flying to the back wall.

He chuckled, somewhat angrily, inspecting his crushed shoulder, "Well, there goes my right arm, unfortunately I have to use my non-dominant half now."

Victor sprinted towards the two fighters and shouted, "Shiva, move!"

The woman instantly slid away and Kara had no time to block the collision as he landed on top of her, savagely pummeling her face with his one good arm.

Lucy panicked, desperate to help, but she could not do anything in her drugged state. Then she caught sight of the knife still lodged in her thigh and groaned, reaching for the handle, pulling. It slid out arduously slow, causing the corners of her vision to darken. The brunette glanced over at the fighters, noting that Supergirl had stopped struggling. The soldier was in hysteria, and put as much frenzied strength into her hand as possible, finally yanking the blade from her leg with an abhorrent sound. She cried out, her sight momentarily black. Lucy took advantage of the villains' distraction and carefully aimed the knife at Victor. She slung her arm back and cast the projectile, its sharp edge making itself comfortable in the center of her target's chest.

He fell.

Supergirl regained her bearings in just enough time to plant a fist across Shiva's face, cracking her skull and rendering her unconscious.

Kara staggered to her feet, cradling her side, and made her way towards Lucy. Her face was bruised and bloodied.

Victor though, he refused to go down without taking one of them along. He took out a vial and read the dosage.

Eighty milliliters.

He loaded the drug into the tranquilizer and directed it at the Kryptonian's vicinity, then pulled the trigger.

Lucy felt a rush of adrenaline course through her veins, using her savior's shoulder as momentum to push her up into the incoming dart. The needle pricked her neck and the mechanism disengaged, flooding her arteries with the blight.

Her body slumped against Kara.

"Lucy? Lucy!" the blonde called, feeling the form spasm violently in her arms. It took a moment for her to recognize it as a seizure, "Shit! No, no, no!"

Supergirl rushed to a chuckling Victor and pinned him against the wall, "Damn you!" She fumbled through his jacket until she found the antidote and shoved him back on the ground.

Kara dialed her sister's number and set it on speaker beside Lucy's body. She injected the cure into her inner elbow. Eventually, the seizing halted, much to her relief.

Alex shouted through the phone, "Everyone at the Pentagon is-"

"Sis! I need medics at my location and a transportation unit! It's Lucy, she's...she's in bad shape, and Victor Zsasz and Lady Shiva are down."

"On it! And...done! Just tell me what the situation is."

"They drugged her, with something they manufactured themselves, and one of them had a cure, so I took it and gave it to Lucy."

"It's all right, me and my team will take a look at it once we extract samples from her body."

The Kryptonian was slightly relieved, as she knew her sister was the best biochemist in the D.E.O., "Her thigh was also stabbed, and the same leg is broken."

"We can get those fixed fine, don't worry, we'll handle it. Just make sure she stays conscious until they arrive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	17. Miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events that have unfolded following Lucy's rescue is bittersweet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Miracle

* * *

"What do you mean you found nothing?" Kara nearly shouted.

"I know you're upset," Alex soothed, stroking her back, "But we found absolutely no traces. It's like the serum wiped out every last bit of the drug, including itself. Likely Lord's or Luthor's methods on keeping their products' secrets safe."

"So, how is she then?"

"All of her systems are in perfect condition, we observed the cure doing its magic a few seconds before it just went 'poof'," Alex grinned, pleased with the outcome, "She also received physical afflictions; nasty contusion on her abdomen, deep stab wound on the rectus femoris, and fractured fibula and broken tibia. Even _those_ injuries have begun to heal at an accelerated rate, shockingly a hell of a lot faster than your factor. It works like stem cells, so the research indicates that the serum acts as a keeper of a kind of map inside adult tissues, telling cells where they are and what they should be. It's genius really."

"English please."

"Right," she chuckled sheepishly, "It's been a long night. Stomach bruise, stabbed thigh, and two areas where her leg bones are injured. Despite those pretty serious wounds, her abdomen has completely healed a few hours ago along with her stab wound, now, her broken bones might take another few hours to heal as well. We expect a full recovery, but Director Lane is probably going to be a bit unsettled for a little while, her captivity must've been...disturbing, to say the least. We're keeping her in the unit for a while longer to run some tests to make sure there are no psychological traumas and that the drugs aren't playing tricks or anything like that."

Alex continued, "As for Zsasz, he's dead, and Woosan, she's been interrogated and..."

"Nothing?" Kara finished.

"Nothing," she affirmed, clasping her younger sister's hand, "I'm sorry."

The blonde exposed a slight smile, "It's fine. I'm just glad she's alive."

The older Danvers squeezed her sister's fingers, her body language tense.

"Is something wrong?"

She was silent for a moment before inhaling, "It's just...I need to talk to you about the Pentagon."

Kara's body went rigid.

Alex continued, sucking in another deep breath, "We evacuated as much personnel as possible within a three-mile radius, and increased the security for the conference room and the database. About sixty or so of our agents remained stationed in every entrance and every corner of the building. The perimeter was in check, but..."

She gulped, unable to go on.

The Kryptonian urged her, "But?"

She sighed, "There were no survivors."

Kara felt dizzy and nauseated, leaning on her sister's desk for dear life, "That's...that's not possible. The best officers were sent out. It's a highly guarded federal government facility. Unbelievable. W-What about General La-"

" _No_ survivors," Alex interrupted, her repetition firmer, "I'm sorry. By the time I got there with backup...everything was in ruins."

"What happened?" Kara asked, her tone desperate.

Agent Danvers shook her head and shuddered, rubbing her own shoulders as if to comfort herself, "I-I don't want to talk about it."

The response was alarming as Alex was a veteran in field operations and witnessed many revolting things and detestable people. Clearly, what she saw when she arrived at the Pentagon had sickened her to the very core.

Kara prodded no further than that, opting for a different source of information.

* * *

Once the Kryptonian returned to her apartment, she immediately turned on the news channel on television. She really wanted to avoid asking anyone at the D.E.O. as even J'onn was opposed to disclosing any information as well.

A headline popped onto the bottom of the screen titled _Live: Nightmare at the Pentagon_.

The anchorwoman was visibly disturbed climbing through the wreckage of the building with the cameraman shakily following suit, however, she managed to keep her report calm and collected, "Approximately fourteen hours ago the Department of Defense was attacked by a group of supervillains named Noah Kuttler, Edward Nigma, Slade Wilson, and Thomas Elliot, who are known by their alter egos as Calculator, Riddler, Deathstroke, and Hush respectively. Their motives are unknown and the federal government has refused to give a comment, but if you ask me, a group of four felons working together doesn't bode well for the future, folks. Not too long ago, Oswald Cobblepot unleashed his massive organized crime against the primary bases of each of the military faction, completely reducing four classified buildings to ashes. Could these two incidents be related? As of this moment, there're no survivors reported for the destruction of the Pentagon, and honored, decorated officials were murdered during a top secret conference that took place here: Secretary of Defense, General Lane, heads of the United Nations, then ambassadors and delegates that represented their countries from the European Union to name a few. Right now we're going to move to the entrance to have a very first look as to what this crowd is gathering for."

The woman climbed down from the jagged remnants of the building, and made way to the entering of the facility with the cameraman in pursuit.

There were masses of people chunked around the doors with state police steadily pushing them back. The footage pointed to the ground and maneuvered through the crying and screaming crowd and eventually made its way towards the front.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what you're about to see here is extremely disturbing and viewer discretion is extremely advised. If you're squeamish, I highly recommend shutting down your screen right now as this roll is going to be completely uncensored."

The camera slowly panned upwards to show an absolutely petrifying sight.

The attendees of the conference were impaled or hanged by either their heads, arms, or feet from the tip of the rubble, some of them mutilated, skinned, and mangled. Even hours from then some of them continued to bleed, their flesh ragged, tissue beginning to rot and develop the stench of decay.

Kara averted her eyes and held down the bile that began to rise in her throat, turning off the television. She wondered if Lucy had been notified of the aftermath.

* * *

"No," Dr. Hamilton stated, "She hasn't been told. Frankly, she hasn't even asked. Then again, she's numbed and dazed by the drugs we've prescribed her. We're currently swamped with trying to analyze all of the agents' bodies for any indication of the enemies' synthesized drug, if any. Not only that, the cortex of her brain, particularly the visual section, is especially active. The limbic system as well, contains the amygdala, which controls emotions, is unusually rampant. The cerebral parts I just mentioned all play integral parts in dreams and other mental abnormalities. Those symptoms are commonly found in the victims of Dr. Crane's fear gas, albeit weaker. We'll disclose the information on the Pentagon with her briefly as she's already suffering from the psychological ordeal of her capture."

"No," Kara sighed, rubbing her forehead, registering the information, "I'll do it."

The doctor cocked an eyebrow, " _You're_ going to tell Director Lane? With all due respect, Supergirl, I've noticed you two haven't exactly been on the _best_ of terms. I'm not sure if she'll even _want_ to listen to the information you relay to her, especially since it's so traumatic and that her brain is quite unstable at the moment."

"In my defense," the blonde argued, "I do think that she needs to receive the news from someone she's close to, in a gentle and sympathizing manner, not with a factually monotone voice."

Dr. Hamilton was uncertain and peered at the hero momentarily, "Alright, I'll leave it to you then I guess."

Kara nodded and thanked the doctor before heading over to visit Lucy at the infirmary. She knocked and heard a mumbled "come in" before pressing onto the door, creaking it open.

The brunette was sitting at the edge of her bed, swaying a bit from the heaviness of her medication. She rotated her head and her face immediately took on a sullen expression, her gaze grim and bleak. Her voice was somber in tone, "Kara..."

The blonde moved to sit across from her, their knees barely touching, "Hey... How are you feeling?"

Their awkwardness was mutual.

"I-I'm fine, the meds are wearing off so the pain is kind of..." her voice became aggravated, "irritating."

Kara's worry broke the surface and she stood up, preparing to make her way out, "Oh, d-do you want me to, ummm...c-call the nurse?"

Lucy suddenly grabbed the blonde's wrist before she could move, "Wait."

"A-Are you sure? I mean, I don't have a problem with it if that's what you're wondering. I just want you to feel better and-"

"Kara."

"Y-Yeah?"

"Stay," the soldier's voice was insistent, and she relinquished her grip as the hero quietly sat back down.

A weighty silence enveloped the atmosphere, their nervous heartbeats deafening their ears.

"I'm sorry," they said in unison. Both of them gaped at each other in surprise.

"W-What?" Lucy said.

Kara sighed, her guilt bubbling over, "After I...killed Lex Luthor...you were always there for me. You made sure I was comfortable every single second, you gave me space, you helped me with things I couldn't do. You prioritized my needs. You even minded the little details. You never asked for anything, for a thanks, never even expected one. I want you to know that I really appreciate you, but I still let my remorse get in the way between us, and I only ended up hurting you back. All I did was give you pain during that time. Then you were captured and I just..." she trailed off, "I thought that by severing our relationship I'd be protecting you from people out to get me. I was wrong, and I was afraid of loss, but I still love you so much."

Lucy clasped the distressed hero's hand and squeezed earnestly, "Kara, it's okay. My love for you never faded away either. You don't need to apologize. You were experiencing a lot of misery. I understand. Don't beat yourself up over that. It was your way of coping and I'm really glad that you've come to terms with what happened."

"That doesn't excuse the way I treated you."

"If you want my forgiveness, you have it, but there was nothing to be sorry for in the first place. And I was so scared for your safety too. When they used me as bait to lure you in and threatened to torture you. Seeing your fight with Shiva and Zsasz made me so uneasy," the brunette was openly troubled and perturbed by the memories of Kara's near-death experiences, "I couldn't do anything... I was so numbed from the drug I could barely move a muscle."

"But Lucy, you _did_ do something. You gave me time, you basically saved my ass back there."

"You did that for me as well," the soldier smiled gratefully, "I only have broken bones and bruises, which they said might take a few more hours to completely heal because of that serum, and my systems are completely fine. Without your intervention I don't think I'd be here right now."

Kara stroked the back of her partner's palm with her thumb, voice breaking, "I need you... I'll be by your side as fast as lightning whenever you're in danger."

"The same goes for you," Lucy brushed the blonde hair obscuring her lover's face and tilted her chin up, "After all of your close-calls with death, I'm not sure if I can leave your side."

"Likewise," Kara agreed, smiling, "And maybe we can start over. I've missed you, and most of your stuff is still in my apartment."

The brunette's voice oozed with enthusiasm, "Of course," then her eyebrows creased and her expression hardened, "By the way...do you know what happened with the mission at the Pentagon?"

Kara froze, her mouth open, but no sound came out. The Kryptonian could hear Lucy's heartbeat skip a beat and finally she spoke, "Everyone that was present during the attack...they were all killed..."

It took a moment for the brunette to process what she had just heard, "W-What?"

The taller woman sighed, her expression somber, "Your dad, everyone...they're gone. I'm so sorry..."

"That's...that's not possible...I sent at least thirty agents there."

"J'onn sent another thirty with some more backup on the way after I warned them. Nobody made it out alive..."

Lucy clenched her fists and began to breath heavily. She stared at her palms and unwelcome memories flooded her mind; her comrades, her agents, people she cared about...their bloody and tragic deaths flashing across her eyes.

Kara immediately detected a spike in the soldier's heart rate, its palpitations alarming her. Not long after, she began to hyperventilate and shake. The brunette started to sweat, she knew she was having a panic attack; it had been years ago since her last, but she was familiar with the feeling, and she felt that this was the worst it could get.

"Hey. Lucy?" the blonde called out to her, "Lucy!" She cupped her face and attempted to calm the panicking woman, but her eyes were unfocused and darting everywhere.

The hero instantly pressed the call button for the nurse, who was present within a few seconds, both attempting to calm the major down. Eventually, the medic dashed out to find Dr. Hamilton.

Kara attempted to caress the brunette's face and patted her cheek to draw her attention, "Lucy... Lucy, look at me. You're okay. You're safe. Just take some even breathes. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Do it with me, okay?"

This time, Lucy's eyes focused on Kara's sea blue irises, beginning to feel much calmer. Though her mind was still in a state of panic, her breaths harmonized with the blonde's and eventually their heartbeats synced.

"Alright, there. Better?" Kara gave a compassionate smile, which was reciprocated with a tight hug.

"What's going on?" Dr. Hamilton demanded, bolting through the door.

"I think that she had a panic attack," Kara replied, brushing through Lucy's hair and rubbing her back in smooth circles.

"I assume that's your cue to leave. Director Lane needs rest without someone causing her throes and tribulations all willy-nilly, we'll restart the morphine right now."

"No!" the patient shouted defiantly, "I need Supergirl to stay with me."

"You know that's against protocol," Kara murmured, stroking her arm.

Dr. Hamilton observed their exchange and determined that it would be best to concede, she coughed through her awkwardness, "Actually...since I double as your personal doctor and psychiatrist, I think it might be more beneficial for you to have her stay then, if that's your wish."

The physician sauntered over to the IV machine and resumed the flow of the morphine before quickly heading out of the room.

Kara gently leaned Lucy back onto the bed and pulled the sheets to cover her body, "I'll be sitting over here if you need me, okay?"

The brunette desperately wanted to be right next to her but declined to act upon her inclination and let the drowsiness inundate her senses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	18. Rekindled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The death of Lucy's father as made a significant impact, causing her to fall onto the road leading to a deep depression. Right…over Kara's dead body that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Rekindled

* * *

The blonde was disturbed from her slumber due to a shuffling sound. She glanced at her surroundings and noticed that it must be late at night as the lights were off with only the dimness of the hallway from the cracks of the door shining through. The scuffling sound's intensity increased and the source was from Lucy's exertion against the bed; she was muttering and sweating buckets.

A nightmare.

She carefully maneuvered her way towards the brunette and scooted into the blankets, locking her arms around the scarred woman. It took her a moment to realize that she was calling out her name in a worried manner.

Kara's voice was affectionate, "Shhh...it's just a nightmare. Don't worry, I'm here, and I don't plan on going anywhere. What were you dreaming about?"

The patient stirred from her sleep, registering the warmth of the embracing body. Tears fell from her eyes and she leaned into the Kryptonian's shoulder, sniffling, monitoring the strong heartbeat resonating from her chest, "We...we were walking home when...Zsasz, Shiva...all of them...they ambushed us. We tried to escape, but they got me, and I couldn't move, so I told you to run, but..."

Lucy trailed off, her voice choking, "You wouldn't run. You stayed, protected me, and _died_. It all happened so fast. It was my fault. It was all my fault. I tried to get you, but there were too many of them and..."

"No," Kara stated simply, "No, it's not. What happened in your nightmare, it's not real; it doesn't mean anything, you're traumatized from the time you were captured, and the drug is messing with your head. The doctors said that you'd have some vivid nightmares for the next few days. Know that I'm right here next to you. I promise I won't leave you."

The blonde began to hum a tune and rested her chin on the soldier's head.

Lucy whispered, mostly to herself, "Just because it wasn't real doesn't mean that it can't be..."

Kara's expression saddened, and she tightened her embrace, which was reciprocated with a light squeeze from the human in her arms.

The blonde began to sing, shy and weak at first, but her voice became more strong and clear, " _I have died every day waiting for you. Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."_

Lucy clutched the Kryptonian's shirt, inhaling the sweet scent of vanilla and almonds, reveling in the comforting, rich voice.

" _Time stands still. Beauty in all she is. I will be brave; I will not let anything take away what's standing in front of me. Every breath, every hour has come to this._ "

Lucy let the song lull her back to a peaceful rest.

* * *

" _The last time you were in charge of the D.E.O., you sent troops with Kryptonite artillery to eliminate Supergirl," Lucy scoffed, "Unbelievable still...you almost killed the source of all of National City's hope."_

" _It was for a perfectly good reason," General Lane defended._

" _And now you're ordering your men to_ torture _her in the most painful way possible? A hero who's only been beneficial and a Samaritan to society?"_

" _I was trying to_ protect _you."_

" _From what? She'd never hurt me," the brunette nearly shouted, then confessed, "She loves me. And I love her."_

 _He was startled at the proclamation, a look of disappointment and rage flashed across his face, "You can't be that naïve._ Love _? She may look like a person, but she's an alien, an outsider, they aren't like us. Lucy, she's only using you and your position as cover. She's dangerous."_

 _The woman huffed, "The only person here that's dangerous is_ you _. You're so bigoted and narrow-minded about aliens. You assume there are threats and create them when there're none. I'm not letting you use the D.E.O. anymore. And this is because of what happened to Mom, isn't it?"_

"Don't _bring her into this, Lucile!" he snarled._

" _As for Supergirl," Lucy continued, "She's my family now, so find a way to deal with it, or you're out of my life. For good."_

_The young soldier stormed out of the office, leaving the dismayed general sitting at his desk._

* * *

The brunette let silent tears escape as she reminisced and mused over her last words to her father, conspicuously distraught over their final conversation.

The funeral was strangely barren. Lucy knew the reason, but it did not make it any less eerie; there was a patriotic ceremony for the highly decorated general and the squadrons that served under him. She decided to not attend it as both her and Lois determined that they would feel too uncomfortable being in the presence of complete strangers while they mourned.

Today was strictly a family gathering, but Lucy begged Kara to come with her. The younger Lane was never all too close with her extended relatives since she joined the military, in fact, some of them really did not like her as much as they did with Lois, who was always the shining star of the family. She did not mind too much, although she used to. Not to mention the more conservative side gave her and Kara judgmental glances as they held hands. The blonde could hear their grumblings about how their relationship was "disgusting", "sodomized", "against God's will", or that it was "just a phase". She did not even need to tell the younger Lane what they were saying as she most likely knew just from deducing their attitudes.

Once the wake was over and Lucy returned to the car, Kara remained at Samuel Lane's grave for a minute, hesitantly placing flowers on top of his casket, gently stroking the mahogany wood and made a vow, "I'll defend Lucy now. I swear. I'll protect her with my life. And I'll do everything in my power to make her the happiest person on Earth."

The blonde could not help but wonder what would have happened if he had lived to see his daughter's happiness with her. The brunette admitted that he was very stubborn and very conservative, but his family's happiness was ultimately his priority, and that he would have warmed up to her if she gave him the time.

The couple shared the loss of their parents, and they both regretted that they would never be able to formally meet each other's mothers and fathers.

* * *

The entirety of the journey home was mute, filled with a reserved stillness while Kara drove. She glanced over at her partner, Lucy's empty gaze towards the dismal, gray skies were brimming with despondence. In turn, it even made the blonde's expression become doleful. She reached for the brunette's hand and wrapped her fingers around it, gently squeezing, which was returned with a somber smile.

They arrived back at the apartment and Lucy decided to remain in bed for the rest of the day. The sky accompanied the mood by beginning to cry. This time, Kara made dinner and delivered it to her bed, then traveled to the kitchen to grab the garbage bag, "Luce, I'm going to take the trash out. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Yeah," came the barely audible reply.

The blonde frowned slightly before walking out of the apartment, slinging the large bag over her shoulders and heading down the flights of stairs.

The night was devoid of stars, the moon's presence the only source of natural light. Kara propped open the slippery lid of the dumpster and emptied the rubbish. As she was rushing to leave the rain, there was a rustle followed by a peculiar strangled sound. The Kryptonian moved towards the source and scanned under the crevasse of the waste bin to find an emaciated cat.

As she lifted the large canister the creature scrambled to its paws and scurried away, but it was no match for the super speed of the alien. She cradled the feline in her arms; it was soft, but its hair was matted and dirty. However, Kara did make out the tabby pattern of the orange coat and gently stroked the animal until it fell to a comfortable position, purring, "Hey, little guy... Let's get you to a safer place."

The cat seemed content to be out of the cold sleet and in a relatively warmer space, though it remained cautious as the surroundings remained unfamiliar. However, the feline's cozy mood became unpleasant once the blonde dipped its paws into the toasty bath water. The struggles proved futile as the Kryptonian's invulnerable skin ended up clipping the cat's claws. By the time the trial came to an end, what was left of the small creature's trust for humans completely dissolved.

Of course, its faith was restored once Kara prepared a dish of tuna for the starving feline. Its mouth watered in anticipation, then it boldly crept from the shadows of the sofa, carefully nibbling the edge of the plate before making a pig of itself. It crammed and gorged the feast, neglecting to chew and ignoring any fine dining manners; the digesting part of the dinner would likely be painful, but it was worth it.

The cat meowed in satisfaction, its bloated belly weighing it down to the couch. Kara decided to spend the night cuddling next to the tabby as Lucy already fell asleep, and the brunette was an especially light sleeper when she was in a sour mood.

The superhero had secretly hoped that her partner would be ecstatic with a new addition to their home.

She was right.

The first thing Kara did when she heard her roommate stirring from her slumber was burst into the bedroom and toss the yelping cat onto her prone body, yelling, "Surprise!"

Unfortunately, the feline's claws engaged, pricking the brunette's skin, causing her to shout in shock and topple over the edge of the bed onto the hardwood floor. The sharp pain contracted and the cat dashed into Kara's arms, "Lucy, meet Mufasa! He's our newest member!"

The blonde had the dorkiest grin splattered on her face.

Lucy dusted herself off and stood up, "What the hell? When? How?"

"Just yesterday!"

"I don't recall adopting a pet, did you get him just last night?"

"Yeah! While I took out the trash!" the hero nodded enthusiastically.

"Leave it to Kara Danvers to pick up a stray in the most peculiar situations," the brunette chuckled lightly, "You usually throw something _out_ when you go to empty the garbage, _not_ bring something _in_."

"But he's so cute!"

"How do you even know it's a boy?"

The blonde's face deadpanned, she dangled the feline in the air, exhibiting his body.

"Ahem," Lucy coughed, "Oh, right..."

"We're keeping him," Kara stated nonchalantly.

"I wasn't planning on kicking him out, but you know..." the soldier started, frowning, "We _are_ pretty busy with our jobs at the D.E.O. so Mu would get pretty lonely."

The Kryptonian tilted her head to the side, oblivious to the subtle assertion, "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that we should probably get him some company," Lucy smiled.

Kara registered as to what she was implying and gasped, her excitement bubbling, "Really?"

The brunette quickly slid into some casual clothes before grabbing her purse, "How about a dog?"

* * *

As they were on their way to the adoption center, the young Danvers decided to notify her older sister of the joyous information via cell phone.

"Alex!" Kara called, activating the speaker.

Lucy chuckled, sipping her hot coffee in the passenger seat with Mufasa sitting on her lap.

"What?" the agent's voice sounded worried, "Is something wrong?"

"Wha...n-no."

"Jesus Christ, don't scare me like that then!"

"I'm sorry! I'm just excited!"

"Okay, I know you're usually a cheerful person, but you sound particularly happy today. What's up?"

The blonde chirped, "Lucy and I have some really great news!"

Alex gasped, elated, "You guys have a baby!"

The brunette choked violently, spitting out her coffee onto the dashboard, alarming the small cat. Kara nearly steered the car into oncoming traffic, tires squealing. They were both very clearly caught off guard.

"What the hell?"

"Kara, you're an alien," came the monotone reply, "Being Kryptonian itself opens several possibilities."

Lucy laughed, "Danvers, as much as I love babies, this isn't the good news."

Alex continued, "Damn, you guys aren't having children? I've always wanted to be an aunt... But if you two aren't having kids then what's all this thrilling hubbub about?"

"We're going to adopt a cat and a dog!"

Kara's excited voice pierced the agent's ears, "So, same thing... _technically_ you guys are moms. And I'm pretty much an aunt! When's the wedding!"

The blonde became flustered and Lucy's face flushed, both of them grinning sheepishly along with their rosy cheeks. They were speechless for a moment.

"Guys?" Alex called, "Hello? Don't tell me you're busy blushing to death."

Their faces flamed an intense cherry red at the sentence that followed, something about the couple "being Oxford dictionaries in the streets and Urban dictionaries in the sheets". Kara stuttered a "can you not" followed by a goodbye and hung up on her older sister.

Once they found a parking and were done blushing the shit out of themselves, they entered the adoption center with Mufasa in Lucy's arms. He jittered timidly as the ruckus of the facility was frightening. The brunette soothingly scratched behind the tabby's little ears in an attempt to calm him.

Kara motioned for Lucy to linger around the waiting room while she spoke to the clerk about the animals to prevent Mufasa from becoming more uneasy. When she returned, she had a list of several dogs that were at least family-friendly and got along with other animals.

"So, they narrowed it down to Astrid and Waffles, which one do you want to check out first?"

They wandered through the maze of cages that were filled with the loveliest of aromas: shit, with a tinge of saliva, accompanied with the yapping and howling of every dog in the vicinity.

Waffles was a mix of a dachshund and a basset hound, it had short legs and an elongated body complete with extremely large ears that nearly sagged to the floor like Dumbo the elephant. Unfortunately, if Mufasa's hissing was of any indication, he definitely did not like Waffles in the least bit.

However, he was more willing to sniff through Astrid's cage to investigate. Their noses grazed and the cat jumped back at the touch before sauntering over to the cage once again. The volunteers mostly called her Asa, but she answered to both; she was an elegant silvery-gray saluki with a very reserved and quiet personality. She was about medium sized, only reaching a height of about three feet, or one meter, from head to paw. Her deep chest and long legs allowed her to move with grace and finesse, and her ears drooped down from her narrow skull. Astrid's furry coat was especially soft, silky, and feathery to the couple's curious fingertips.

"How do you guys like Asa?" a volunteer chirped, skipping his way towards the two browsing ladies.

Lucy scooped Mufasa up and made to stand, followed by Kara.

"She's the one," they both said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	19. Carnival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lucy attend a carnival festival for the hero's birthday. Eliza Danvers finally gets to meet Kara's gal pal. Alex, Winn, James, Lucy, and a special guest, hold a birthday party for Kara back at the apartment.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: SOME NAUGHTY TIMES IN THE BEGINNING AND END.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Carnival

* * *

"Lucy..." Kara groaned, "Where're we going, and are we there yet?"

The brunette kept her eyes on the road, but released her hand from their intertwining fingers to slap her partner on the arm, "Don't be so impatient, birthday girl! We're almost there!"

Kara began to trace feather light patterns on the top of Lucy's hand, then the brunette unlaced their fingers and placed her palm on the blonde's thigh, her hand relaxed and opted to rest on the smooth fabric of the dress.

Kara pouted, running her fingers through her thick blonde locks of hair, resting her elbow and head against the passenger window, beginning to hum a tune.

Lucy saw the action from the corner of her eye and could not help but admire the alien's beauty; to her, it was literally out of this world.

It had been quite a while since they were able to spend some alone time together due to work. Kara often came home earlier and when an eager Lucy returned to the apartment late at night, she was disappointed to see the blonde already sleeping, so her hopes were crushed and she resorted to cuddling instead. The fact that some of Kara's everyday habits unintentionally aroused the brunette proved more than unhelpful.

Lucy grumbled at her bitter thoughts, automatically setting her foot gently on the brake when a red light flashed. She was keen on undressing her partner soon, hopefully. Her face heated and she could feel a blush rise into her cheeks as she thought of that.

"Luce?" Kara asked, "Something wrong?"

The brunette flushed, "W-Wha – no. No, nothing's wrong."

"Really? Your heart rate kind of sped up," she stated, "And your face is kind of red, what're you thinking abou – _oh_."

Lucy bowed her head down sheepishly and mumbled, "Yeah... _oh_."

Kara grinned, leaning over to caress her girlfriend's cheek, pulling her towards herself, then she whispered, "Tonight then. I'll let you do _whatever_ you want."

The brunette gulped, the puff of air in her ear causing her own to cease.

Kara placed her hand on Lucy's inner thigh, dangerously close. She felt another hot breath against her neck before the blonde decided to take her earlobe between her teeth, pulling. Lucy nearly moaned at the pressure. Kara's teeth reached the end and made a quiet, though still resounding, clack.

"Then you can tell _me_ what to do," the blonde alluringly purred in her ear, sending shivers down Lucy's spine.

Kara was _very rarely_ brazen, and she knew how that made her partner feel, which made it that much more of a turn on to the brunette. Lucy rotated her head and as she was about to meet her girlfriend's lips, Kara grinned devilishly and pulled back to her seat before they could make contact.

The brunette gave a low growl to showcase her dissent.

"Light is green, Luce," she simply stated, the smirk and coy playfulness in her eyes remaining undaunted, before turning to face the front of the dashboard.

Lucy exhaled sharply, clearly frustrated, "You can't just seduce me and then leave me hanging like that."

"Don't worry," Kara chuckled, pecking her annoyed girlfriend on the cheek, "We'll have plenty of time tonight, _and_ Kryptonians tend to have a lot of stamina."

The brunette knew she would not be able to keep herself under control for much longer. Then she remembered that Alex was planning a surprise party back at the apartment once the couple was finished spending time together, causing her to groan.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Kara squealed with excitement, "A carnival!"

She hugged Lucy tightly, causing the small human to choke out, "Too tight."

The blonde set her fragile girlfriend down, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I was just too excited and-"

Lucy raised her index finger to silence Kara's lips, "Shush. No rambling. So what do you want to start with?"

"Rides of course!"

As much as the brunette prided herself in being fearless, she was the exact opposite when it came to flying, rollercoasters, and horror movies, which she recalled Winn and Alex agreeing to watch _Paranormal Activity_ for the night.

After about an hour or so of riding the most terrifying attractions, Lucy was dangerously close to vomiting, and had to support herself against a pole to stabilize her vision for several minutes.

Kara decided to be finished with the rides and scanned the rows and columns of tents holding different games: darts, tic-tac-toe, break-a-plate, down-a-clown, miniature golf, skeeball, gone fishin', basket toss...

"Let's do something light," Kara pointed to a small stand a few feet away.

"A guessing booth?" Lucy chuckled, placing her hands on her hips.

"I bet I can get the closest to guessing how many Skittles are in that jar against you."

The brunette squinted her eyes, "You're on, so what are we betting?"

"Winner gets a kiss."

"But that's a win for the both of us."

"Exactly, so we'll both be happy," the alien nodded enthusiastically.

"Hah, I majored in mathematics."

"But I can speak nine languages fluently."

"That has _nothing_ to do with this game!" Lucy scoffed, and after about a minute or so of inspecting the glass container, she confidently estimated, "Three-hundred-ninety-six."

"Four-hundred-twenty-three."

The host widened his eyes, "W-Wow...Glasses got it. Exact too."

"Aha!" Kara cheered, leaning her head down towards her grumpy girlfriend, feeling a peck on the cheek.

"How?" the brunette complained, then it suddenly came to her, so she whispered harshly, "I can't believe I completely forgot about your x-ray vision."

The alien feigned offense, "How dare you accuse me of cheating! Even if I were to use it, it would've taken me ages to count."

"Then how?"

Kara whispered, "Alien math."

"Damn aliens," Lucy muttered, " _I'm_ choosing the game this time. To the shooting range!"

"What?" the blonde objected, "That's not fair, I've never held a gun in my life!"

The soldier winked, grabbing her girlfriend's hand and dragging her away, "First time for everything, plus you'll probably beat me with your oh-so-advanced alien intelligence. Winner gets to be the artist for the loser at the face paint booth."

_That doesn't sound so bad._

Kara was wrong.

"Ta-da!" Lucy sang, showing a mirror to reveal that the blonde now had a curly mustache, goatee, monacle, and...a penis on her forehead.

Kara yelped in shock and glared daggers before tackling, or hugging, the soldier to the ground.

Lucy finally stopped laughing after a minute and the blonde huffed, rubbing the black paint, causing it to smudge, "You're a jerk."

They both stuck their tongues out.

The brunette chuckled and winked, "Well, you've got to admit...you're kind of a _dick_ too."

Kara groaned at the pun, continuing to smudge the vulgar drawing off of her forehead, which ended up giving the alien a _huge_ unibrow, "I'm going to wash this off. Jerk."

"You know you love this jerk though."

The blonde hummed with delight, kissing Lucy's lips, "Yeah...you're right, I can't stay mad at you. I'll be right back."

With that, the Kryptonian bounded off to the nearest restroom, leaving Lucy to her own devices.

She sighed contentedly before her eyes wandered to a large stuffed puppy, large enough that her arms would not be able to wind all the way around its plushy, fat body.

The brunette slammed some bills down onto the counter, "Bring it on..."

* * *

Kara's phone rang and she checked the screen.

Ten missed calls from her older sister.

Her heart missed a beat, she was so preoccupied with having fun with Lucy, so she immediately dialed the number back.

"Alex?" the blonde called out worriedly.

"Kara, I really need your help right now," the voice on the other line whispered, sounding panicked.

"What's wrong? Where are you? I thought you were babysitting the pets?"

"Your dog is sleeping on my lap," came the harsh whisper, "And your cat _refuses_ to get off of my shoulders."

The blonde took a minute to register what she just heard, then burst out in tears of laughter, "You scared me half to death! I thought it was an emergency!"

"It _is_ an emergency!"

"Just get up then?"

"I don't want to disturb them! I had a hard time reaching for my phone on the coffee table and it's a foot in front of me!"

Kara chuckled.

"Don't laugh, this is serious! What am I supposed to do?"

"Well," the blonde coughed, regaining her bearings, "I honestly wouldn't move no matter how uncomfortable it is, you're basically a sinner if you do."

There was a groan from the other line, "Okay fine, bye."

"See you, sis," Kara snickered, "Good luck."

She hung up and unlocked the handle's mechanism and swung the door open to be greeted with a large plush dog.

Lucy's face popped up from the stuffed animal, "Happy birthday!"

The blonde jumped with joy, lifting the shorter woman off the ground and spinning her in circles jovially. She finally set her down and pressed their foreheads against each other, "I love you so much."

"Love you too."

Their intimacy increased as they shared a kiss.

"It's eight already..." Kara gasped.

"Really? Time doesn't slow down enough when I'm with you."

The blonde chuckled, "Ready to meet Eliza?"

The soldier had not been this nervous since leading her first squadron into the battlefield back in her days in the Army, but she decided to digest the butterflies in her stomach, "Yeah."

* * *

"So _you're_ Lucy Lane?" Eliza said, astonished, "Kara, you were wrong! She _is_ very beautiful!"

"Eliza!" the blonde cried, turning to her lover, "Don't listen to her! I did _not_ say that!"

Lucy laughed, she felt at ease, and was thankful that Ms. Danvers was not stern like Alex.

"I'm just messing with you guys," the older woman snickered before stuffing a cookie in her mouth, "I only approve of you because Kara said you were the best baker in the world."

"Oh, thank you, Ms. Danvers!"

"Please, call me Mom,"

"Eliza!" Kara shouted, her face reddening alongside Lucy's.

"I think the best I can do is call you Eliza," the brunette said, letting out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I just love messing with you guys!" Ms. Danvers confessed.

"No kidding," Kara said under her breath, folding her arms and pouting.

"This's just the first time she's introduced me to a girlfriend. Well, not like she introduced any boyfriends before. I was expecting her to come home with some sort of horrid alien species or something."

The blonde responded with a long groan, "Stop..." Then she smashed her face into a pillow to release a muffled scream.

Lucy was very entertained with the Danvers.

Eliza continued, "And this is probably the last time she'll introduce someone this special to me judging by how she looks and gushes about you. 'Oh, Lucy is so amazing', 'she's so beautiful and smart', 'I want to give her the world', 'I love it when she does this and that'... _please_ , I could go on _forever_."

The brunette blushed furiously, "She really thinks all that?"

Eliza was shocked, "She doesn't tell you?"

"No, she does...I just didn't know she told others."

Ms. Danvers howled, "Oh boy does she! To _anyone_ who'll listen. Alex and I just ignore her now."

Lucy turned to face her girlfriend, who was peeking through the crack of the pillow, equally as red.

The brunette had no one to gush about Kara to; her mother had passed away long ago, her father as well, but he would have remained steely and distant from her. Then there was Lois...and Lucy did not think her older sister would welcome stories of her late husband's cousin with open arms.

Eliza finished around half the baked goods already, "Wow, honey! You're lucky you chose a great cook! Lucy, do you bake for her?"

The soldier grinned, "Almost every morning..."

"Why?"

The brunette buried her face in her hands and mumbled something unintelligible.

"What, sweetie?"

Her volume increased slightly, "Because I like it when she smiles."

Suddenly Lucy felt arms encircling her torso.

"Oh...I'm so happy for the both of you!" Eliza sniffled, holding the tears back and releasing the soldier from her grip, opting to place her hands on her shoulders, "So when will I get my grandchildren?"

A very awkward silence ensued, then...

"Okay, Eliza, I think this meeting went very well, but we don't have a lot of time on our hands so we're going to have to leave," Kara said, rushing through her words and dragging a dumbfounded Lucy away.

* * *

"That's bull!" Winn shouted, "I totally had that one!"

"Not before I called time," Alex said.

"But you're Kara's sister, you're biased!" Carter pointed out.

The auburn-haired woman shrugged, "Maybe a little bit."

James sighed, "Looks like we're no match for them at charades."

Kara jumped with joy and cheered, "Woohoo!"

The blonde and her girlfriend shared a high five and Astrid galloped over to her mothers, settling her bum on Lucy's lap. She barked, vying for attention.

"Alright, Asa," Kara chuckled, stroking the dog's silky coat. She glanced over to the cat tree where a ball of orange, streaky fur was curled up, "It doesn't look like Mu is as happy for us."

Astrid sauntered over to the tree and stood on her hind legs, insistent that Mufasa join the festivities.

He refused to budge and gave a tired meow before returning to sleep.

The blonde pouted, "That spoiled brat."

Lucy chuckled and turned to the opposing charades team, "Don't be bitter, boys, you did win all the card games."

"Yeah," Winn let out a laugh and elbowed Carter's ribs, "Because you saved James's and my ass so many times."

The young boy grinned, his pearly white teeth rivaling Kara's, "Mom is great at that kind of stuff, I'm not very good compared to her."

"Don't be so modest, kid," James smiled, "There's no shame in showing a little pride."

Kara frowned though, "I'm still kind of sad that J'onn couldn't make it..."

"You mean that he didn't want to make it," Alex corrected, "He's not really a party person."

"Who's J'onn," Carter asked, perplexed.

The three women froze, a chorus of 'um''s and 'uh''s resonating.

"He's my dad," James quickly said.

"Why would you invite your dad to this party?"

"Well, we were going to invite Ms. Grant as well if she wasn't so busy," Kara rushed, then sighed in relief when Carter decided not to ask any more questions.

"I still can't believe Cat Grant let her son hang out with us," Lucy said in disbelief.

"She trusts her assistant," the boy explained, warmly glancing at Kara.

" _And_ the I.T. hobbit to babysit him," Winn added, squeezing the boy's body against his in an affectionate hug, "We're the ultimate bros."

The young man felt a vibration in his back pocket and reached to grab it, reading a text and frowning, "Looks like it's time for Carter to go, his chauffeur is waiting outside."

Everyone groaned, especially the boy who was quite reluctant to leave the party.

"C'mon, kiddo, let's grab your stuff and you can head on out," Winn sighed, picking up Carter's backpack and handing it to him out the door.

"Thanks for inviting me, guys," he said almost solemnly, "Hopefully this isn't the last time we all get to hang out!" He produced a large smile and left, followed by a chorus of many 'goodbye''s.

After a moment, the blonde decided she was unable to hold in her patience any longer and burst out, "Can we cut the cake?"

Alex rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright, I'll get it out."

The younger Danvers squealed with delight, clapping her hands together and rushing to the dining table, followed by the rest of the guests.

After singing the song, Alex pressed her lips against Kara's forehead, "Happy birthday."

Afterwards, Lucy snatched her girlfriend away and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Finally, the blonde cut into the cake, but was startled to a halt when the brunette shouted, "Wait!"

Kara turned to the voice's direction and felt a slap connect to her face. It was cushioned by soft breading and frosting. She narrowed her eyes, "You're going to regret that."

Lucy laughed, darting away from the birthday girl.

"Running is futile, human!" the alien shouted, utilizing her super speed to catch up to the offender, jumping onto her back.

A sound came out of Lucy that was a cross between a scream and a laugh before she collapsed along with Kara, who was tickling her to death in revenge.

Eventually, they got up and walked back over to the group, still laughing their insides out.

"You two are disgusting," Alex gagged.

James had a bright smile on him and Winn rested his chin on the palms of his hands, "I think it's romantic!"

"You're also disgusting," Alex remarked, eliciting a frown from the offended man, then she turned to Kara, "I wonder if Carter would continue to pine over Supergirl if he knew how much of a dork you are."

"He would love her even more," Lucy interjected confidently.

"Maybe you'll have some competition soon, Luce," James chuckled at the woman sticking out her tongue.

"Let's put on the movie," he continued, grinning, "I think the couple wants their romantic alone time soon, so we better get this over with."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	20. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun madness ensues. Later comes some romantic fluff with a side of hardcore angst and some spilled beans.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE AND ANGST AND SOME NAUGHTY TIMES AT THE END.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Surprise

* * *

As much as Lucy wanted to show everyone that she was a fearless soldier that took no shit from anybody, that façade always broke when she watched horror movies having to do with the paranormal. She could handle blood and gore, but ghosts would always terrify her.

The brunette cowered under the blanket and tugged at Kara's shirt, "They can't possibly be real, can they?"

She was not expecting Alex to answer, "There're millions of different species of aliens living throughout the entire universe and you're questioning whether or not ghosts exist?"

"I wasn't asking _you_."

Kara chuckled, "Alex does have a point."

"That doesn't make me feel better!"

The blonde pressed her lips against Lucy's head, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Except that she fell asleep around thirty minutes into the film, so the brunette ended up enduring Alex's teasing.

Suddenly, Winn jumped at the next scene and ended up making it rain popcorn. He rushed to the garbage can and began to retch at the movie's bodily horror.

Alex scoffed, "Pathetic."

"Heard that!" Winn shouted, then continued gagging.

"It's not my fault you're weak," the auburn-haired woman yelled back.

James made a disgusted look and averted his eyes from the television screen, "I'm going to check on him. It's pretty late too so I think we both should get going."

Once James managed to get Winn back to his normal state, they dashed out with some popcorn in tow.

Alex groaned, "I think they left because they didn't want to clean the mess Winn made."

The older Danvers set her feet on the coffee table and teased, "Mind if I stay over tonight? Got to make sure you kids behave."

Lucy's eyes narrowed, "Oh, well would you look at the time. It's late, maybe you should go as well."

The brunette began to shove the laughing Alex out the door.

"But it's only eleven!"

"It was nice to spend time with you, but I think we should all get to sleep now. Bye!"

Then the door slammed shut, but that did not stop Alex, who shouted at the top of her lungs, "Use protection, kids!"

Lucy swore the whole entire floor was startled awake.

The brunette turned to find that Kara was in a deep sleep. She smiled, lifting the blonde from the sofa and carrying her to the bedroom. She set her down and pulled the blanket over her shoulders, then lay next to her as well, shutting the lights off.

* * *

" _Lieutenant Lane, the Iraqi Armed Forces have captured a fireteam and platoon as hostages at a nearby combat outpost."_

" _What COP is it?" Lucy inquired._

" _San Juan," the soldier replied, "Located in Baghdad southwest of its international airport. It's been bombed out, abandoned."_

_He continued, "Platoon 102 was patrolling the Rusafa district when they were surrounded and captured. Fireteam 821 was taken hostage as well when they were in the neighborhood of Saidiyah, who were moved to the COP Sedgwick in Al Anbar."_

_Lucy's heart stopped momentarily, "Fireteam 821?"_

_A few of her closest friends were in that division._

" _Yes, ma'am, we don't have much intel other than three hostages in Sedgwick from 821 and thirty hostages in San Juan from 102."_

" _Three from 821? What happened to Corporal Sololiev?"_

_His face fell, "KIA."_

_Killed in action._

" _Private Carson, was his body retrieved?" Lucy asked, struggling to maintain her emotionless demeanor._

" _His...the cadaver, we recovered most of the body parts, but..."_

" _I see...dismissed, private."_

_He nodded, flipping the tent's flap behind him._

* * *

" _This is Captain Yusuf Bakkal, I'm speaking on behalf of Colonel Rahim Ghali. I know that you have some of our men hostage, so we decided to take matters into our own hands and we captured two teams of yours. 102 is southwest from the airport and 821 is northeast from the airport. Release our soldiers and you can have_ one _of the two back."_

" _One of two? We_ saved _those boys that you call men!" Lucy growled through the radio, "They're children and they're under our care! They refuse to go back!"_

" _Now, now, Lieutenant, I know that you currently have twenty of our soldiers when there were forty, and you ordered a strike over the city of Amararh."_

" _It wasn't an easy decision!" Lucy snapped, the screams of families ravaging her mind. Innocent men, women, and children attempted to flee in vain._

" _Tell that to my dead wife! Tell that to my dead daughter!" he spat._

_Lucy remembered._

_She remembered very clearly._

_Her squadron scouted the entire clearing, killing any survivor. The young Lane could not bring herself to end the lives of the innocent civilians. But there were times when she wondered which was crueler...leaving them to soak in the sight of their destroyed homes, the dead bodies, and to suffer alone until death consumed them...or ending their lives with a single bullet to the skull._

_She clenched her eyes shut at the memories, "You're not the only person who's lost loved ones..."_

" _Oh, I'm aware, and I think letting you select one of the two groups is very generous. Of course, the decision may be difficult for you; do you want to save your three friends or thirty of your subordinates? We'll be waiting."_

_Lucy slammed her fists on the table in frustration._

" _Lieutenant," one of the soldiers started, "What should we do?"_

" _Give me some time. Everyone, return to your posts."_

_The clock was ticking, she had no time._

* * *

_The signal was bad, causing the box television to crackle and fuzz, but the soldiers were able to recognize the three blindfolded members of 821 behind the screen._

_Lucy was panicking inside, she knew it was more rational to save the soldiers of 102, but she could not find it in herself to abandon her friends._

" _Lieutenant, you're taking too long for my liking," sighed Yusuf, loading his pistol and pointing it to the first person in the line, "Strike one."_

" _No!"_

_Bang._

_The body dropped, lifeless. Blood pooling beneath the head._

_The brunette was furious, snatching the gun from her desk and stalking towards the group the Army held 'hostage'._

" _Lieutenant Lane! Don't!" one of her men called._

_She pointed the barrel against a boy's head with tears stinging her eyes, but she hesitated, her finger refusing to pull the trigger._

_She lowered her gun, but one of the soldiers tackled her, causing the pistol to fire a bullet into a child's eye._

" _What the hell are you doing, Carson!" Lucy shouted at the man._

" _What the hell are_ you _doing!" he shouted back._

" _I was lowering my gun!"_

_He froze, realizing the mistake he'd made._

_They both looked at the boy on the ground, his older brother mourning over the dead body and the others cowering in fear._

_Lucy's eyes widened, but her shock was interrupted when she heard a crackled voice speak through the television, "Strike two."_

" _No!" she dashed back into the tent and saw another one of her friends fall, "You bastard!"_

_Yusuf ignored her and removed the last soldier's blindfold, "Private Samantha Troupe, is it?"_

_The woman would not stop crying, and flinched away from her captor's touch._

" _Since you're the last one, I'll give your team leader a half an hour more to decide what she wants."_

_The signal cut off._

" _Get two trucks prepared and two squads loaded in the back ready for a fight. Team of twelve goes to San Juan. I'm going with the team of eight to Sedgwick with the other. Move out!"_

* * *

" _ETA twenty minutes, Lieutenant Lane!" the driver yelled to the back._

" _Make it fifteen!" she demanded._

" _Yes, ma'am!"_

_When they arrived, Lucy ordered everyone to split up and investigate the area._

_Four pairs were made, each spanning the two floors of the building._

_One by one they were taken out until Lucy remained, who retaliated by eradicating the Iraqi extremists._

_She cautiously made her way around the corner, through the hall, and opened the large double doors._

_Yusuf was standing a few feet away from Samantha, pointing a gun at her. He expected Lucy, and said quietly, "Time's up."_

_She was sprinting far before he said that and managed to shove him to the ground, driving a combat knife into his cranium and snapping his neck at a grotesque angle._

_Lucy turned around and rushed to her friend's aid, noticing the blood staining the center of her chest, "Sam!"_

_The dying soldier could only manage a pathetic gargle before the life was sapped from her eyes._

_The brunette slumped, crying out in agony._

_Her lament was short-lived as a panicked voice came from her walkie-talkie, "Lieutenant Lane! It was all a trap! The bastards planted bombs all over San Juan and Sedgwick, get out of..."_

_Boom._

_The line cut, and Lucy suspected that she had very little time as well, so she gently closed her comrade's eyelids as a tear cascaded down her cheek. Then she made a run for it, jumping out of the window before an explosion went off._

* * *

_When Lucy came to, the shock of being the only survivor of the two squads struck her. The stark reality of being alive was almost too much to bear._

" _They're all dead," her doctor had said, almost nonchalantly as he was lethargic._

_Save for being sore, she was not seriously injured, only a few bruises decorated her skin._

_She had no time to recover, as the company of one-hundred soldiers decided to relocate their base of operations._

_However, Lucy insisted on visiting the remains of San Juan._

_The outpost was in utter ruins; rubble scattered all over the land and the remains continuing to crumble. There were so many dead bodies, the fact that Lucy was used to the sight was almost tragic. Though the scouts had said there were no survivors, she remained standing atop the akeldama, the field of blood._

_As Lucy was about to leave, she heard a groan, "Please... Help me..."_

_The brunette looked down, "Private Carson?"_

_His body was shattered and torn. His legs were missing and he was slowly crawling towards her. It was gruesome._

" _Lieutenant Lane...I don't want to die..."_

_She knew he was done for, but still, she tried her best. Her medical skills were one of the top in the company she led, but it was useless._

" _Is it bad?" he asked, unable to move._

" _No, you're going to be fine..." Lucy lied._

_She took his crippled body into her arms and remembered the people she left to perish in the strike, that she left to suffer._

" _I'm so sorry..." she whispered, the sorrow and remorse in her voice evident._

" _Lieuten..."_

_Suddenly he was unable to breathe._

_Lucy tightened her choke hold when her victim began to struggle in her grip._

_After a few minutes or so, his body became limp._

_She cried silently, ashamed of what she had done. She cried for her comrades, her friends, the people of Amarah, Yusuf, his wife, his daughter, Private Carson...Sam..._

_Then Lucy returned to her company with an emotionless, almost cold, expression._

_Despite all of her so-called heroisms, she could never let go of the past, and she never fully accepted the Medal of Honor she had received for her leadership and sacrifices in the Iraq War._

* * *

"Lucy!" a voice called out, then louder, "Lucy! Wake up!"

The brunette startled awake and felt a fountain of wetness trail down her cheeks.

"What happened?" Kara asked, extremely worried. For the past minute she had been trying to wake her girlfriend up when she was screaming and crying. Hearing the palpitations and spike of the brunette's heart rate scared her half to death as she had never seen a human body react this way, and it was worse because it was Lucy.

She was grateful for Astrid, barking when she sensed something was wrong and laying bey their sides, along with Mufasa.

"Was it a nightma-"

The small human's tears continued to spill over as she hugged the Kryptonian as tightly as she could, vomiting out her dream in a rush of words and in a disorganized fashion.

As much as Kara wanted to keep holding her, she let go of the embrace and placed her hands gently on Lucy's shoulders, "Calm down. Breath, slowly. Tell me what happened."

The blonde patiently waited as the brunette went over the details of her nightmare, skipping over as many of the bloody parts as she could while still maintaining the coherence of the story.

"I bombed Amarah...hundreds of people...then I watched all of my comrades die...and then I killed..."

Kara nodded slowly, her eyes held a bit of understanding and the rest filled with kindness and love. She almost did not know how to react. She knew Lucy had experienced many horrors, but she was always unwilling to talk about it until now.

The Kryptonian connected to her on some level; she recalled seeing many loved ones die during the demise of Krypton. Bloody or not, it still disturbed her.

Kara rested her chin on top of Lucy's head and held her tightly, rubbing her back in soothing circles, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I can't relate to you on a deeper level, that I can't share those memories. I could never imagine what you've been through, but I'm always going to be here for you."

That was what Lucy admired about Kara. The blonde would always make sure she was okay and ask how she was, but probed no further if she sensed any discomfort or uneasiness. However, it did not stop her from subtly checking every once in a while, keeping an eye from a distance. She gave space and when the brunette was ready to talk, she would.

"Try to remember that you're not alone," Kara whispered, cupping Lucy's face, "I'm always willing to talk or listen. The pain that you go through, I want you to share it with me, and I'll share mine with you. I don't want you to hurt alone. If you fall, I'll go down with you, then we can get through it together."

"I was at a dark place. I don't want to drag you down with me," Lucy choked.

There was a moment of silence before Kara spoke up again, "Zehdh."

"What?"

"Family. Home. Belonging," the Kryptonian explained, "Back on Krypton it was a tiv girod, one of the eleven virtues of our flag. I know you don't want me to fall with you, but I want to."

Silence ensued, then the brunette whispered, "What are the others?"

Kara smiled slightly, "Shokh, truth. Urvish, peace. Uchahvia, synergy. Zhguzhor, imagination. Ighai, purity. Tahrao, justice. Jahghah, restraint. Shahrrehth, hope. Gazrhyg, industriousness. Urkynon, altruism."

"Krypton sounds like a nice place to live in..."

"It is – was," Kara corrected herself, "But it wasn't always."

"What do you mean?"

"We had a primitive era too," the blonde mumbled, "Even if we were a technologically advanced race, our society wasn't; we had a caste system: religious, artist, military, and science. They all had representation in the ruling council. My immediate family stood for science. Kal's was the military. The worker caste didn't have representation though. We may have had grand buildings, but we also had slums."

"Did you ever get sick?"

"I've only ever gotten sick twice in my life," Kara smiled, "When I was a child, an epidemic like the flu nearly killed me. Then when I temporarily blew out my powers on Earth, I got a cold."

Lucy listened intently. Her curiosity never gave her any interesting information.

The only details she knew of was that Krypton's red dwarf sun was worshipped as Rao, albeit not praised spiritually. It was around nine billion years old and five times larger than Earth's four and a half billion years old yellow sun. She also thought that Krypton would have rather been chilly as the Rao's surface temperature was around three-thousand Kelvin as opposed to the sun's almost six-thousand Kelvin. Rao was also sixty percent less dense.

Also, Krypton was larger and had four moons and was around nine billion years old, but only had a population of a little over one billion. Earth was four and a half billion years old, but had a population of seven billion.

Astrid whimpered through the silence, but lolled her tongue out once the women stroked her soft fur. Mufasa crept over, and being an attention whore, placed his head under Lucy's palm, purring.

"Come on," Kara coaxed, taking the brunette's palm, pulling, "Let's go outside."

"Outside?" she arched her brow, "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's midnight and it's pouring rain right now."

That did not stop the Kryptonian from lifting the distressed woman into her arms and speeding out the door and onto the lawn.

"Eeek!" Lucy squealed, the droplets soaking her clothes.

Kara interlaced one of their hands and placed the other on the soldier's waist, "I've brushed up on my dancing skills."

The young woman chuckled, "You have such impeccable timing, Danvers. But as _much_ as I'd love to dance with you, there's no music, so unfortunately, we're going to have to go back inside."

"On the contrary, Ms. Lane," Kara countered, inching her face closer, "I can sing."

She cleared her throat, " _I see trees of green, red roses too._ "

They began to waltz, and Lucy had to admit, the blonde was not kidding when she said she 'brushed up'.

The couple spun, stepped here and there, in very fluid and smooth motions while Kara's beautiful voice rang out, " _I see them bloom, for me and you._ "

The brunette twirled under her partner's arm.

" _And I think to myself, what a wonderful world._ "

Eventually, they stilled. They were like statues, their foreheads pressing against each other, bright azures and deep emeralds staring into each other's souls.

Finally, they shared a kiss, their noses bristling over the other.

It was sweet, languid, gentle.

They both thought they could stay like this forever and be happy and content with their lives.

Then a shiver ran up Lucy's spine.

Kara chuckled, "Want to go back inside?"

"Yeah," the brunette laughed, then her teeth chattered, "I also need a hot shower."

* * *

They entered the apartment and found Astrid and Mufasa huddled against each other, the rain and thunder no match for the heaviness of their sleep.

Lucy quickly entered the bathroom and undressed, stepping into the bathtub.

Kara decided to wash herself first thing in the morning and changed into a tank top and some shorts before plopping onto the mattress, her hair tangled and wet from the rain.

She sighed blissfully and felt sleep pulling at her consciousness.

Then the bathroom door clicked open and the blonde walked over to Lucy, hugging her from behind. She did not mind the dampness of the bathrobe her girlfriend was wearing.

The brunette giggled, turned around, and gave her a peck on the cheek, then trailed over to join their lips.

They made their way toward the bed until the back of Kara's knees touched the edge.

Lucy lightly pushed the blonde backwards, and then the Kryptonian was sitting on the mattress, staring up at the goddess before her.

The brunette untied her robe and loosened it until it fully slipped onto the floor.

Kara gulped, her eyes tracing over every centimeter of the woman's flawless skin. To her, everything was flawless when it came to the young Lane.

"Do you like what you see?" Lucy asked in a sultry voice.

Kara was unable to find any words, all vocabulary of the nine languages she spoke tossed right out the window.

The brunette slowly pushed the speechless woman down until her head rested on the pillow underneath, and straddled her hips, moving back and forth torturously slow.

"I'll take your stunned silence as a yes," Lucy smirked.

The pace of the grinding increased slightly, eliciting a moan from Kara, who placed her hands on the brunette's waist and raked the soft skin, causing the woman on top of her to hiss with pleasure.

Then Lucy leaned down, her mouth next to the side of the blonde's head, who bit her bottom lip when she felt a soft puff of breath graze the tip of her ear.

She exhaled, recalling their drive to the carnival, "'Anything I want', you said?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	21. Noonan's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A simple date between the two lovers is interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Noonan's

* * *

The day after Kara's birthday the loads of paper work they had to fill out with the adoption center and the nearby veterinarian were finally finished. Asa was quite timid, and whimpered whenever a horn honked or thunder sounded, but not when her companion was with her. Even though Mufasa was pathetically tiny compared to the seemingly giant dog, he was very protective, often hissing back at the offending sounds to keep his friend safe.

The roommates were glad that the new members of their family were getting along swimmingly. They decided to celebrate their "motherhood" by going to Noonan's, a nearby casual restaurant where they often sat at the bar. Kara went usually to have a latte or snack by herself. Lucy, on the other hand, used to share several drinks with James when they were still dating, with the blonde jealously glancing over at the two whenever she dropped by to pick up Cat Grant's coffee from Sean, the owner of the local diner. Kara never had a definitive answer to who she was jealous of. At the time, she was sure she had liked the young photographer, but once she had gotten to know Lucy, she was extremely glad she did not continue to further pursue James. Now that Sean was aware of their blooming relationship, Kara often asked him for tips and tricks with romance, but after several embarrassing dates with Lucy, he had lost all hope for her. However, the brunette did find her clumsiness endearing at least.

In the meantime, Winn had resorted to Siobhan for intimacy, but once she was incarcerated he fell into a slump as there were now two people he cared for that were in prison. However, he began to spend a lot of time with Carter Grant, Cat's son, and actually enjoyed being a nerd and playing video games around him. At the little boy's pleading, his mother willingly offered the programmer a babysitting job for when he was not working as the I.T. employee at CatCo, and he happily obliged; Winn had always wanted a little brother and it seemed that he was finally " _grant_ ed" that wish as he called it. The other surplus he gained was recognition and respect from Cat Grant, which Kara was a little salty about as it took her a few years to have her name even pronounced correctly.

After the blonde briefly spoke about her woe, she looked out of the window into the bright, morning sky, and suddenly had an epiphany, she blurted out, "Bathtubs are opposite boats."

Sean overheard the statement from behind the counter and quietly buried his face into his hands, trying very hard to stifle a laugh.

Lucy froze, pasta stabbed with a fork midway into her mouth, "W-What?"

"You know how boats are dry and used in bodies of water? Bathtubs are like that except inverted. So, opposite boats, or reverse boats."

The brunette chuckled, "Is this what you do when you're out of it? Let me try...we built the atomic bomb twenty years before we invented colored television."

Kara's mouth gaped, but she quickly closed it and pondered her next wild fact, "Buck and doe are both terms for deer, but buck and dough are both terms for cash."

"Did you know that Cleopatra was the first person in her royal family's history to learn Egyptian, despite having ruled the country for generations?"

"What?" the blonde was baffled, then scoffed, "In the last three-thousand years on Earth, it was calculated that there have only been two hundred-forty years of peace throughout the civilized world. Humans are so primitive..."

Kara stuck her tongue out, and Lucy sipped her tea, "One in five adults believe that aliens are hiding on Earth disguised as humans."

The Kryptonian widened her eyes and whispered, "Really?"

"Really," the brunette smirked.

"A human will eat seventy insects and ten spiders on average while sleeping."

This time the soldier stuck her own tongue out in disgust, "The oldest chewing gum is over nine thousand years old."

"Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete."

"Not as impressive as _certain_ aliens though," Lucy winked, "For humans, we're blind for about an hour a day. It's called saccadic masking or saccadic suppression."

"That's probably the most mind-blowing fact I've heard," Kara gasped, "How?"

"You know the movies that have shaky cameras? They make most people barf because of the blurry movement. Well, when our eyes flick to different focuses, we are temporarily blinded because it's even faster than camcorders. The brain keeps us from getting nauseated by preventing us from noticing the darkness that occurs several times when our eyes are used. Technically, if we make an effort, we can sometimes see a flash of black. The periods of blindness are mostly suppressed though."

It took a moment for the blonde to register the information, then she smiled, already gloating, "I can top that."

"Sure," Lucy teased.

Kara cracked a smirk, "When bar codes are scanned, the computers read the white spaces in between, not the black strips."

The brunette was speechless for a moment and was about to reply when Sean suddenly commented, "What. The. Fuck."

"They... What?" Lucy gasped, "My whole life has been a lie..."

"Looks like she's got you beat, Lane," Sean chortled, cleaning the last of the dirty dishes and setting them in the large dryer.

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms, tapping her fingers, "Looks like I'll need to do some more research."

The blonde rejoiced at her triumph, giving a smug grin and treating herself to another bite of her sticky bun.

If Kara had known the owner before meeting him at Noonan's, she would have thought that he would pursue a more...physically taxing job; he was big and burly, and his full beard and tattooed arms would have definitely intimidated others if he were not so jovial and friendly. Then she recalled, he was in the military for quite a while and rumors suggested that he had participated in some "unconventional" jobs after his discharge, like being a vigilante or hitman. It did not matter to the young hero as long as he was not hurting anyone anymore. Besides, he was very generous towards the homeless population of National City, often donating the extra money from his profits to charity, and handing out the overproduced goods his chefs made. Noonan's was strangely tranquil this day compared to its usual bustling hours. The building was occupied by two tables, one with a single old man enjoying his brunch, and the other with Kara and her gorgeous girlfriend. Lucy was especially familiar with Sean as he had worked with her father, though they were not the closest of friends, they still held respect, and Sean was present at his funeral.

Speaking of his kindness, he also tended to hasten his speech whenever he offered anyone anything, "Okay you two lovebirds, your meals are on the house."

The couple immediately refused, standing up to object and urging that they would pay, but he reiterated, "It's on me!"

They stopped arguing and sat back down, knowing that when Sean made a decision, he would persist, and no one was able to convince him otherwise.

Lucy was nearly done finishing up her pasta before Kara pouted, "Hey, save me some!"

The brunette slid her plate across the table, but the blonde leaned over and took the other end of the noodle in her partner's mouth, and eventually closed the distance between them for a romantic smooch.

"Love you," they both said.

Sean made a gagging noise, "Get a room."

"Or..." Kara teased, "You could avert your eyes."

"You chose a rather vexing sasser here, little Lane," he chuckled heartily at the witty banter.

The jesting gibe diminished and Sean resumed working, tucking the chairs under the tables and wiping down the counters, he sighed at a particularly large dent on it though.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"Well," he gestured to the offending damage, "The last time Supergirl was at the bar, she not only flicked nuts and seeds at all of my expensive alcohol, but she also managed to make an impression on my counter. Now there's a crater in the wood and it's bugging the hell out of me."

Kara's face fell guiltily, and the brunette gently held her hand before replying, "Well, Supergirl's been reverted to her normal self, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."

Sean jeered, "What do you guys think happened? Was she high on something? Or did she just have a temper tantrum? Scary though, isn't it? That divine, god-like beings like Supergirl and Superman could just...have some animosity then their conniption would...oh, I don't know, destroy the entire world?"

The Kryptonian's eyes drooped.

"Well," Lucy countered, "I honestly think that she was being controlled, but I also don't think that people should just revoke all of their respect and trust in Supergirl; she's done so much for this city, and the partial destruction of it wasn't directly her fault at all."

"How would you know it wasn't actually just anger? That she just didn't go mad for a few hours?"

"Because..." the brunette said softly, gently stroking her partner's hand, "I believe in her."

Kara looked up, their eyes met and shared their tenderness and devotion to each other.

"Pffft," Sean scoffed, "I don't know... The military gave me some trust issues... And aliens give me the heebie-jeebies."

He paused, then added, "I think it's their tight spandex costumes. Or are they called _Spanx_ now? I don't really know."

The couple could not help but burst out in laughter at his comment.

"So I heard you two ladies got yourselves some pets? How is it so far?"

The blonde was enthused, her perky voice ringing, "We adopted a cat, whose name is Mufasa, and a dog, whose name is Astrid. We're both really loving them, but Mu is kind of settling down a bit, we're still training him to not scratch on all the furniture. Asa's been mostly shy, but she's a good girl. How's Gus?"

Sean gave a very sweet smile, "My old boy actually passed away a few days ago..."

The two women were speechless, before Kara worked up the courage to apologize for the question, "Oh, I-I'm so sorry..."

"Don't worry about it, he was very old and had arthritis, I didn't want the little guy in pain. Hell, I'm getting there too, I can't really do much anymore because of my gout. Being old sucks ass."

They recalled the memory of Gus, a small chocolate dachshund with a long body and tiny legs, but a heart the size of an elephant's. No wonder why it had been so quiet in the café lately.

"Breaking news, live footage from an unknown source has been stirring the public for the last three minutes. It seems this 'terrorist' is creating an uproar with the live footage, let's take a look."

Kara and Lucy turned towards the television screen, the shaky footage alternating amongst photos of large buildings.

The anchorman continued, "The facilities have just been identified, the bank vaults of Fort Knox, New York Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Teikoku Bank, Dubai Gold, Swiss Vaults, Iranian Gold Reserve, Antwerp Diamond Center, Dominion Bank, and Iron Mountain. These are all of the highest protected facilities in the entire world, almost ridiculously so, the majority of them being one-hundred percent resistant to atomic bombs and other forms of nuclear warfare. All guards are being dispatched as we speak and are currently scrambling to their posts in preparation."

The signal abruptly cut off, by this time large crowds all over the world tuned to their televisions, and the viewers were met with static before a layered sinister voice took over.

"Greetings, humans, meta-humans, aliens. We're known as the Great Triumvirate. This day is just the beginning of the end of your world. Your pathetic heroes won't be able to save you. Your precious Superman has been buried. The next victim could be Supergirl, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern...and all of you, the insolent human race, will watch as your heroes fall. Your legacies will perish along with this world, and it looks like the clock has begun to tick; everything you do to stop this will be in vain, so your time is already up. Prepare for the Advent. It has begun."

The television made several booming sounds and the watchers gasped in horror as the once impenetrable buildings were easily rendered into rubble. Orange armies marched their ways to each of the facilities, mercilessly ripping apart any standing in their path.

People gasped and cried in horror, the abhorrent screams of the facility guards grinding against their eardrums, bright red plastering every inch of the virtual scene before them. The channel stations made a futile attempt to cut the signal, but to no avail.

* * *

Team Arrow looked on worriedly.

"Oliver, what're we going to do?" Felicity asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Quentin, Curtis, I need you guys to track the signal down if you can, find as much information as possible. Felicity, help those boys out," the Green Arrow replied sternly, acquiring his bow and quiver, "Rene, Evelyn, we're going on a reconnaissance mission."

* * *

The Green Lantern Corps members were mumbling before Jessica broke the silence, "Well. We're fucked."

"Yep," Hal and Kyle said in unison.

"Though I don't think we should have such a negative disposition," John began, "I think our chances are higher than what Cruz, Jordan, and Rayner have to say."

Hannu grunted in agreement, and Kilowog stomped over to the group, grumbling, "Poozer."

"Kilowog's right!" Guy shouted, "We can totally take those motherfuckers out!"

"Yeah!" Alan cheered.

"Mind your language," Saalak warned, "We've no intel of the threat. This could very well be bigger than all of us, bigger than Sinestro and Parallax."

Soranik stood her ground, keenly watching the feed, while Simon did the same behind her.

Jessica groaned, "I don't think Ion's going to like this..."

"Nor will the other entities," Saalak clenched his fists as the video continued, "Hannu, notify Ganthet of this event and dispatch any unoccupied Lanterns to all three-thousand-six-hundred sectors. Larfleeze's Orange Lantern has been exploited and Ophidian is on a rampage. Earth is in grave danger, and we're going to need _all_ of the Lanterns to cooperate."

"No offense," Jessica muttered, "But I don't think Atrocitus or Butcher are going to be thrilled about helping, it's the _Red Lantern Corps_ for fuck's sake!"

"We don't need them," Soranik spat, "The Blue Lantern Corps will do just fine in the alliance. Sayd and Saint Walker are plenty even."

"Perhaps," John began, "We shouldn't underestimate the power this...'Great Triumvirate' holds, it seems they've been planning this for eons."

"Blue Lanterns?" Jessica inquired as she was relatively new.

Hal patted her shoulder, "They aren't really an offensive group, more like defense, and they enhance our lantern abilities."

"So like support teams?" she clapped gleefully, "Like in _Overwatch_?"

Kyle chuckled, "I guess, sort of. Not really a video game, but close enough."

"What's their emotional entity?"

"Adara," Simon mumbled, "Hope."

"We might as well contact the Indigo Tribe to aid us," Saalak added, "We'll need all the help we can get, and Proselyte and Indigo-1 would be more willing than the Red Lanterns."

"Might I suggest the Star Sapphire Lanterns?" John commented, "Predator and the Zamarons may be a bit stubborn, but I think I'll be able to convince them."

* * *

Nightwing roughly moved through the crowd of curious people and to the front. The horror he witnessed was absolutely appalling.

He looked over his shoulder to spot a crying little girl clutching onto her mother's tailcoat, "Mommy! I don't want to die!"

The small child continued to cry as her younger brother held onto her waist even tighter, pure fear in his eyes.

Dick whispered to himself, "No. Not Bludhaven. Not my city."

Then he scoffed, "End of humanity? Over my dead body."

* * *

The Justice League were intrigued and stood in the middle of Bruce Wayne's headquarters, staring at the large monitor in the cave.

Alfred's aged eyes widened, "Master Bruce..."

"Al," Batman interrupted, "Get the Batmobile ready."

Wonder Woman narrowed her eyes, "This is beyond what we can do...I'll travel to Themyscira and recruit the Amazons."

"I'm going back to Central City, I think I can get some of my friends to join," the Flash said, and without waiting for a reply, he sped off.

Aquaman simply headed off, which Cyborg determined was to Atlantis. He was left alone in the Bat Cave, "Alright, well I guess I'll just...order some pizza and investigate. Booyah."

* * *

The Teen Titans all watched with open mouths. The shock of the attacks dawning onto them.

Robin began to bark orders, "Raven, investigate all the realms for any details that you can find relating to this. Starfire and Beast Boy, go with her."

He nodded in the dark robed woman's direction as she lifted her hood and opened a portal, entering a different dimension.

Robin paused, "And Star? Can you grab some Tamaranians on your way back?"

She nodded before entering the portal.

He continued, "Blue, you're with me; we're going to analyze the footage and see if we can find anything on Earth relating to this newscast."

* * *

The Legends watched as the buildings crumbled in explosions and flames.

"This is certainly entertaining," Captain Cold simply stated.

"Sure is," Heat Wave replied nonchalantly.

"This is _really_ bad," the Atom redundantly stated, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open in shock.

"No shit, Palmer," the White Canary retorted, folding her arms.

"Uhhh...Rip?" Firestorm began.

"Yes?"

"Any chance we can go back in time and stop this?"

"I think what we're facing is going to need more than time travel unfortunately."

"Lovely," the Canary commented.

"I've had it with your negativity, Sara."

"I don't know about you, Jackson, but this situation warrants at least _some_ negativity."

Hawkman and Hawkgirl were speechless, and could only stand back and listen to the team's altercations.

* * *

The incidents premiered in every single media outlet in the world, the bloody scenes raging on until a mountain or sea of lifeless bodies spanned every centimeter of the screens.

"Kara?" Lucy whispered, the worry clearly dripping from her voice.

The blonde averted from the screen and stared into the beautiful emerald eyes across from her and whispered back, "Let's go."

The pair swiftly navigated through the panicked, bustling crowds and towards the DEO.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	22. Preemptive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The government races to their barracks, increasing their defense and weaponry, to assemble their employees and dispatch rescue teams to salvage what is left of their facilities. Then even more hell breaks loose.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Preemptive

* * *

"How the _hell_ did this group obliterate the entrances of the most protected buildings in the entire world?" J'onn almost yelled, "And do it without blowing half of the Earth's face off? Those edifices were resistant to nuclear warfare."

"Sir," an agent said, "Some insiders supplied alien weapons to the ones responsible for the attacks. We have a hunch that it might be Cadmus, perhaps under Maxwell Lord's orders."

"Do the forensics teams have anything to analyze on the weapons?"

"No, nothing, not even corpses. The Secretary of Defense ordered soldiers to incarcerate anyone trespassing within a few miles from the buildings. Only people with an SCI security clearance are permitted to enter the premises."

"I have a theory," Alex commented, "The blasts from the live footages were cobalt colored and seemed to collapse in on itself into a gray hue."

"It wasn't an explosion," Lucy noted, "It imploded, and there's no human weapon I can think of that detonates like that without being an atomic bomb. The armies were using _fission rifles_. They far exceed what humans can construct. Far more advanced that utilizing hollow uranium or plutonium."

"Even if it did use the latter, plutonium can't be used unless it's the two-three-nine isotope," Alex added.

"And it's extremely difficult to build the artillery, almost impractical. Uranium is the next best thing, but its overall efficiency is relatively low. Somehow, this alien race developed a portable weapon into pistols and rifles combining the gun and implosion methods to convert fissile material into supercritical mass."

"In this case, with gravity on their sides, the hydrostatic pressure erupted several bodies within its vicinity," Alex explained.

"Why were the armies unaffected by the flare?" J'onn inquired.

"They weren't," the auburn-haired woman stated, "The clones from the Orange Lantern are hive minds, robotic. I hypothesized that the energy could duplicate more at an exponential rate, with no limit."

"So you're saying these things can infinitely reproduce themselves?"

"Yes," Alex sighed, "Hopefully I'm wrong."

J'onn placed his hands on his hips, "Unfortunately, Agent Danvers, you've never been wrong."

"First time for everything."

"I have some feedback though," Lucy began to explain, "The weapons in question could be similar to Luthor's Entropy Bomb, who nearly perfected the anti-life equation for it. Then there's the matter of controlling an army of that magnitude; they'd need something like the Central Power Battery or the Miracle Machine."

J'onn seemed slightly taken aback, "Anti-life equation?"

"Yes, are you familiar with it?"

"Yes, the stories were greatly discussed among my people, of Darkseid, a being from the planet Apokolips. He was obsessed with the anti-life equation and it drove him into madness," J'onn's eyebrows furrowed, "He invaded the land of Themyscira and slaughtered numerous Amazons."

"Could he be a part of the Great Triumvirate?"

"It's very likely, but that doesn't explain the two other members, and the fact that at least one of them is quite fixated on Kryptonians."

Kara finally piped up, though her voice was uneasy, "I think...I think I know who the other member is. A few years before Krypton's...demise...a humanoid by the name of Brainiac invaded my world. When the military finally fended him off, our capital city, Kandor, and its people, just disappeared."

The Kryptonian took a deep breath, "Then there was Mongul, he wanted the key to what he called the Warworld."

"I recognize the name," J'onn said, "When I was born, Mars was ravaged by that villain for the very same reason. The weapon he wanted the key for was built by a violent alien race known as the Warzoons, but they all died off mysteriously."

"Is it possible that they're working together?" Kara asked, "Brainiac, Darkseid, and Mongul?"

"I'm not sure, I've never really heard stories of any of them being very...cooperative, to say the least," J'onn sighed, folding his arms, "But if they are...the depth of strife Earth is about to face is dire."

* * *

The next few days were a blur. There were many sleepless nights; the panic caused the crime rate to increase so Supergirl's schedule was booked, as for Lucy, she was spending more time at the D.E.O. with Alex trying to pin down the objectives of the Great Triumvirate.

Agent Danvers sighed, she was frustrated with the confusing clues and number of variables in all of the cases. The woman attempted to rub the sleep from her eyes, resting her head on her hands. She checked the time, it was ten at night, she had lost track of how many days she was deprived of rest.

"Alex?"

The woman groggily jumped at the sound of her name, "Y-Yeah?"

"You should get some sleep. I can take over your shift for a few hours."

Agent Danvers made a throaty chuckle, "Looks like you need it too, Director Lane."

Lucy's laugh was hoarse, "I'm pretty sure I've gotten more sleep in than you have."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go get some rest, you can resume your analyses later."

"I'll just go over some of the details with you, but first, what did you manage to find?"

"Actually," Lucy grinned, "I _think_ I've got some good news."

"And that is?"

"The Green Lantern Corps contacted us, they think they found the source of the Orange Lanterns, it's Central Power Battery is located on the planet Okaara, but they're going to have a hard time disarming it because Agent Orange resides there," Lucy explained, "But I'm hoping he'll be weakened by the amount of power he's channeling into the clones on Earth. I've also heard some rumors about the White Lantern, and I've sent some agents to investigate the whereabouts of the ring."

"You sent some of our scouts into outer space?" Alex asked in disbelief.

"No," Lucy chuckled, "It's located on Earth and the ring has the anti-death equation along with all of the powers of the lantern spectrums. It might be a bit farfetched, but we have to try all of our options."

Alex nodded, "Do you even know where it is?"

"The Lantern Corps and our investigational detectives deducted that it'd be located in the Lazarus Pit."

"That's a bit difficult to come by," the auburn-haired woman commented.

"Batman managed to find it," Lucy shrugged, "With his help and technology, we could definitely retrieve the ring within maybe three hours max."

"Exactly when did you dispatch a team?"

"A few days ago."

"I guess it's better safe than sorry. Glad to hear that, Director Lane, I've been needing some good news lately."

"Let's talk about what you've found then."

Alex sighed, "Ten banks were infiltrated, robbed, then destroyed, along with hundreds of trained government employees. Three in the US, ones in the UK, Japan, the UAE, Switzerland, Iran, Belgium, and Canada. I think their base of operations is located in the US. Some businesses partnered with LexCorp and Lord Industries have been rather seedy: Amertek, Ace Chemical, Stagg Enterprises, Dupree Chemical, Sunderland, Repli-Tech, Kord, Ovel Oil, American Steel..."

She groaned, her stress clear, "The weird thing is that most of those businesses are known as the Conglomerate. They were originally contracted for the benefit of the people, but eventually, their values have been walking along blurred lines. I've been sending a few scouts to track their supply transports, the only thing of relevance was that all the shipments were travelling towards the targeted building's cities. The others to National City... I'm currently trying to figure out why they'd send them there."

Alex rubbed her forehead, "It's crucial to take note of these companies' involvements; if the public were to find out their scandals, the controversy could definitely shut them down and the government industries would give the economy some trouble. Then there's the matter of the government almost 'abandoning' some of their lesser facilities in a way; very loose, but it leaves them vulnerable."

"How much trouble would the economy be in?"

"Worldwide great depression, only much worse."

"Lovely," Lucy said, her tone filled with sarcasm, "What about the robbed bank vaults though? Are those not going to hit hard as well?"

"I'd assume so, but the weird thing is that it didn't make much of an impact," Alex sighed, "At least yet. Fort Knox's Bullion Depository was robbed of two billion, fifty billion from the NY Federal Reserve, twenty billion from the Bank of England, thirty billion from Iran's Gold Reserve... The others won't reveal how much was stolen."

"That's...peculiar," Lucy arched her brow, "Was money not their goal?"

Confusion littered Alex's expression, "Over one-hundred billion dollars-worth of gold was stolen."

"Yes, that's a handful," the brunette admitted, "But considering that they annihilated everyone and forced their ways into the vaults, I assumed they'd stolen more."

"What do you mean?"

"Fort Knox has holdings of sixteen billion, N.Y.F.R. has four-hundred billion, the Bank of England has one-hundred sixty billion, and Iran's Reserve has two-hundred billion. Those armies stole about one-eighth of each of the vaults. Not really going to 'hard hit' their economies. Isn't that odd to you?"

"It wasn't before you told me how much the banks were worth."

"I mean, enough has been stolen to create global panic, and the paranoia is spreading. They can't possibly fund the end of the human race with a little over a hundred billion dollars."

"What's their aim then?"

"I don't know, create mass hysteria?" suddenly a thought occurred to Lucy, "Or a diversion..."

Alex leaned towards Lucy from her chair, "What do they want to distract us from?"

A feeling of dread rushed through the brunette's veins, "What kind of facilities would the government consider expendable as to leave them 'loose'?"

Agent Danvers rubbed her temples, "Research labs, border controls, prisons..."

"Prisons?" Lucy interrupted, alarmed.

"Agents," J'onn's voice spoke through the intercom, "Report to the main area immediately, this is an emergency."

All of the workers gathered around the monitors, each screen showcasing different prison breaks, along with a flow of felons swarming the streets.

J'onn's voice was stiff, "The heists were a ruse. Arkham Asylum and Blackgate, both located in Gotham, and home to the Joker, Harley Quinn, Firefly, Clayface, among others. Pena Duro, home to Bane and prisoners addicted to an extremely dangerous drug known as Venom, a strength enhancing super steroid. Top secret facilities like Gulag, Van Kull, and Wormwood held hostile metahumans and aliens. Then there's Abruuk Asylum, A.D.X., Concord, Crowley, Eddleton, Guantanamo... Every hero that can help us has been alerted and are on their ways to stop this chaos."

Then he sighed, "We recently found out that the prisoners had access to drug deals. Bzrk, a toxic mutagen that increases humans' sizes and strengths until they spontaneously combust. Delirium, D.M.N., and Hairball, basically hallucinogens that result in insanity. And those are the ones I'm concerned about; the rest are super steroids. Everyone, returned to your assigned teams and move out!"

The agents rushed into their gear and armor, quickly filing their ways through the doors into the DEO vehicles.

"This red herring just cost us millions of lives..." Alex gasped.

"It's a coup d'etat," Lucy said, "Governments all over the world have declared a state of emergency and martial law."

"The civilians are being evacuated," Supergirl notified, flying into the building and panting sharply, her expression almost grim, "The Lanterns are almost to the Central Battery Core in Okaara, they have Agent Orange cornered. The Amazons and Wonder Woman have spread out into many of the prisons to control the mobs of felons and gangs. Flash and Nightwing are working on recapturing the inmates in their cities. The Teen Titans came back with an army of Tamaranians to combat the escapees too. I have no idea where the Legends are, but I'm assuming they travelled back in time to stop this mess, so we're going to have to hold out for them until they complete their mission. Apparently, Batman barely returned to Gotham and is quickly analyzing the ring Lucy sent him and a team to go after. Green Arrow finished rallying up the convicts in Star City, so he's on his way to Gotham to aid Batman. Other vigilantes and anti-heroes have risen up to help us as well."

"But is it going to be enough?" Alex questioned.

"Let's hope."

"We're no use here," Lucy chimed in, "We have to go to Gotham to find out how we can use the White Lantern ring to gain an advantage, because right now our enemies have the upper hand."

"I'm not going," J'onn responded, "I'm the only link the Lanterns have for communication, I have to stay here, so I'll notify all of you if anything in the game has changed."

Kara nodded in agreement, "Let's go, guys."

"But you can't carry the both of us," Alex reminded her.

"I found a way, and it's not a very long flight," Supergirl said, and without waiting for a reply, she grabbed the two women and launched into the air.

* * *

"The ring is incredibly potent with power," Batman explained, "I looked through my database of metahumans and aliens and I haven't found any suitable conduit to wear it long enough without dying."

"So we're looking for compatibility?" Alex asked.

"Sort of, and a human would instantly be disintegrated wielding its power for just a few seconds," his voice grumbled, "Even then the wearer would need to recite the oath, which from what I've been told, is 'a waste of time' from the Green Lantern."

"What's our best bet then?" Kara inquired almost impatiently.

"It's not that easy to discern, I've concluded that one of their bases of operations is located in the Warworld in this galaxy."

" _One_ of their bases?"

"Yes, hypothetically, to enter its force fields you'd need to fly at a speed faster than light in order to break the barrier. It's definitely possible for you as you're much faster than your cousin, plus the ring's power could aid you. However, you'd have to make your way through the maze of stasis chambers in order to reach the power core."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Batman sighed, "Even a Kryptonian would die because your species' energy dependencies can only take in so much. Solar radiation is generally good for your kind when absorbed gradually, so there're no worries of exhaustion even with the absence of the yellow sun tonight, but the ring would overload you with solar energy; your cells would burst and you'd eventually bleed to death in an hour, give or take, unless you can destroy the Warworld within less. I also believe Mongul has taken the helm of that super weapon, and I believe the head of the Black Lanterns is with him."

"Black Lanterns?" Lucy mumbled.

"The leader is the only member I know of so far," he explained, "And it was exiled by the Green Lanterns millennia ago."

"'It'?" Alex repeated.

"Yes," Batman answered, then suggested, "I think if we travel to Metropolis and grant Superman this ring for just a few seconds, he may be revived and join the fight."

He placed the ring in a sealed canister and clipped it securely onto his utility belt.

Kara did not hesitate and went to exit the building, "Come on."

The streets of Gotham were chaotic; there were fires, explosions, screams, blood, and occasionally body parts being flung around. Green Arrow joined their ranks and though it was a relatively short trip by flight to Metropolis, the heroes found themselves in a predicament.

Several outlaws had surrounded them, human, metahuman, and alien. Most were easily taken out, but the sheer number of Orange Lantern forces would soon threaten to overwhelm them.

As it seemed they were in the midst of losing the battle, the evil lantern armies suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving only a few assailants.

Their earpieces crackled, "This is J'onn, the Lanterns have subdued Larfleeze and taken out the Central Power Battery. What's left of them are on their way to help take Earth back."

Kara breathed an audible sigh of relief and the bleak tone in Lucy's and Alex's eyes seemed to alleviate.

There was a sickening pop in the distance and Supergirl saw that Green Arrow's neck had been brutally snapped by a rather large man.

_Bane._

Then the trio heard a choked grunt and turned to see that Batman's throat had been slit, his jugular spurting out into a crimson pool beneath his body.

"Hello, ladies," the man chuckled.

They recognized him as Ra's al Ghul.

Their odds dwindled to an unimaginable low.

However, the offenders halted, retreating a few steps back.

"Nekron has a message for all you heroes," Ra's remarked.

Following his statement, a deep, deathly voice vibrated in all of their heads, "I'm the Lord of the Unliving, sent by the Great Triumvirate to wreak havoc throughout Earth in what we call the Advent. I'm the leader of the Black Lanterns, and I invite any of you I'm broadcasting this message to with a lick of common sense to join our cause. Some of your heroes have already fallen."

Images of familiar massacred bodies crossed every living persons' minds: Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Blue Beetle, Green Lantern... A few of the greatest champions, slaughtered.

"But I can resurrect them," the voice continued, laughing.

Instantly, the corpses of every fallen hero rose from their eternal slumber, their eyes empty, their skin gray, and their expressions zombified.

Batman rose from death, still bleeding from his torn throat, and Green Arrow's neck was still positioned at a sickening angle as he stood.

"My Black Lantern army will mercilessly raze this pathetic world into ashes. Our oath..." the resurrected dead bodies of former heroes, soldiers, and civilians all chanted, "The blackest night falls from the skies, the darkness grows as all light dies, we crave your hearts and your demise, by my black hand the dead shall rise!"

The armies marched towards any living thing and butchered them in a relentless fashion, adding to their numbers.

"Why don't we sit back and watch the show, Bane?" Ra's suggested, grinning.

The large man grunted in agreement.

The Green Arrow released the string of his bow and sent several arrows towards Alex and Lucy, who barely evaded them.

They knew calling out to a dead puppet was of no use, so the two agents engaged their opponent.

Supergirl dodged Batman's daggers and blocked a few with her cape, but once she removed the cloth from her view she came face to face with the vigilante as he tackled her to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	23. Blackest Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Warworld continues to increase in power, and Supergirl makes a frantic decision; it is reckless, desperate, and could very well kill her, but she is humanity's last hope.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Blackest Night

* * *

Kara used her super strength to fling Batman off of her, sending him crashing a few feet away.

The cloud of smoke and debris obscured his fall, she could hear the rattling of chains, but barely noticed the glimmer of neon green piercing through the air towards her.

She jumped out of the way just in the nick of time, the Kryptonite cutting into the surface of her cheek, but she was unprepared for the brutal kick at her torso.

Kara grunted in pain, quickly rolling to the side to avoid two long Kryptonite daggers. She heard the blades screech when it made contact with the concrete, carving a ragged pattern.

She saw that the lethal weapons were attached with metal links to Batman's wrists as they retracted back into his grasp.

He began to swing them in circles at his sides, and once he gathered enough momentum, he flailed the daggers at Supergirl with deadly accuracy.

Even with her super vision she was only a step ahead of his blows, which were startlingly beginning to catch up.

Kara was distracted when she heard Alex's cry of pain, who was stabbed in the thigh with an arrow.

Batman took the opportunity to slash at the blonde, creating a deep laceration across her abdomen.

_Crap._

"Agent Danvers, get back!" Lucy warned, stepping in front of the fallen woman, who was carefully inching backwards away from the fight.

"I think...I think the arrowheads are poisoned..." Alex panted, beginning to feel sleepy as her movements became sluggish.

"Shit," Lucy cussed under her breath, blocking her opponent's punches, "Don't worry, they're narcotics, only to subdue, just get to a safe place while you still can."

At this point, Alex could feel herself losing consciousness, the edges of her vision blackening, but she continued to push through until she found refuge under a ruined building, only able to spectate.

"Kara!" Lucy shouted, landing a hit against her opponent's shoulder, only for it to regenerate, "They get slower the more you hit them, but to take them out you're going to have to damage their bodies faster than they can heal!"

Supergirl was being choked by the chains, she floated into the air and slammed back onto Batman, breaking the canister and swiping the ring away.

She coughed out and retreated to a safer distance, "Easier said than done!"

Lucy's knuckles were bleeding from the number of times her fists made contact. Her fight was going nowhere.

Green Arrow landed an awful kick at her thigh, causing her to fall and bend over. He used this to his advantage and kneed her in the sternum three times before striking her in the face.

The pain in her chest was harrowing as it rendered her unable to breathe properly. She heaved, hacking out the sanguine fluid within her body and stood up, only to be met with the resurrected bodies of her parents, leaving her stupefied.

"I can also grant your greatest wishes," Nekron whispered in their minds.

A figure of Jeremiah Danvers formed next to a shocked Alex.

Then a large swirl of black substance materialized into two bodies in front of Supergirl.

Kara gasped, tears welling in her eyes, "Mom? Dad?"

The once dead members of their families grinned devilishly, taking their sweet time approaching the women.

"Take cover!" J'onn shouted as multiple green lights degenerated the undead army.

The Green Lanterns joined the battle below them.

The Martian landed next to an unconscious Alex and scanned her body, relief flashing across his face when he knew that she would be okay.

Green Lantern supported Lucy and once they reached their destination, the brunette lightly shoved the man away, "Thanks, but it's just a few bruises. Nothing I can't handle."

He grinned, "Toughie."

Supergirl made her way towards the group, "Thank you, guys."

"No problemo," Green Lantern smiled, "Glad we could help out."

"We've come with some bad news," J'onn said, "Eclipso's been spotted in the heart of National City and he's making his wrath known. And the Warworld is continuing to store its power, once the superweapon is charged it'll be the end. We need to destroy it as soon as possible."

Kara recalled what Batman had said before being turned against them and looked at the ring in her hand.

Though it was dark, Lucy noticed the look on the blonde's face and sternly said, "No."

"I didn't even say anyth-"

"You're _not_ going to wear that ring and take out the Warworld. Your chances are too slim; we can find another option."

"But there _isn't_ another way and you know it!"

"I'm your Director and you'll listen to my orders," Lucy demanded calmly.

Kara turned to J'onn, "This is our only chance."

The Martian reluctantly nodded, "We can't use the teleporter back at the D.E.O. though."

"J'onn!" Lucy protested.

"I don't want her to go through with this as much as you do, Director Lane," he said, "She's going to find a plan to do it anyway."

Lucy withdrew her arguments. She knew Kara all too well and would probably end up with a careless method without their input.

The brunette sighed, "Why can't we use the teleporter?"

"It was created by the best minds of the Thanagarians and Martians, but years of wear and tear have made it faulty."

"So what's the plan?" Supergirl asked.

"I'll make contact with the Teen Titans," J'onn said, squaring his shoulders, "They're currently in Hell's dimension trying to secure Trigon's chains so he won't escape. I can ask Raven to temporarily leave Hell to the D.E.O. and she'll be able to create an inter-dimensional portal to direct you towards the Warworld's trajectory. If the mission is a success, the triumvirate and the Black Lantern army will be wiped out."

"And Nekron?"

"It's not killable, so it'll retreat. It doesn't waste its time on organisms that give as much of a fight as we do."

"Let's get out of here then," the Green Lantern said, floating into the air, "And don't worry, I'll give you some back up on the way to the Warworld."

J'onn carried Alex into his arms, flying after him, and Kara cradled the brunette against her body as the night wind made goosebumps on their skin.

"Kar? Promise me you'll come back," Lucy pleaded, her voice barely above a whisper.

Supergirl fell silent for a moment at the use of her nickname. The blonde never made any vows she could not keep and the young Lane knew that.

_But for her sake..._

"Yeah..." Kara forced a grin, "I promise I'll come back."

_If I can..._

Lucy smiled, comforted by the response.

Only, the superhero was unsure of the outcome, and it created strife in the deepest pit of her mind. She began to feel nauseous.

_I'm sorry, I love you so much. If I don't come back, I hope you know that I tried my best to keep that promise. Please forgive me when this is all over, Luce._

* * *

"I'll communicate telepathically, and I can only hold this portal open for a short amount of time," Raven stated, hovering above the ground in a meditative position, creating a tear within space.

"I'll be back before then," Kara assured. However, she was uncertain if it was directed towards herself or the group.

"Say your goodbyes."

"Woah," Green Lantern chuckled, "Easy on the negativity there, girlie."

"If you were born destined to be the harbinger of death and slavery of Earth I think you'd feel the same way," the sorceress replied.

"No wonder everyone doesn't like magical witches...you're so gloomy and dismal," he grumbled, "So what? Can you foretell the future? Are we going to win?"

"I'm not a séance," Raven sighed, opening one of her eyes, "I don't have ominous premonitions or sinister omens."

"But I do have hunches," she added, "This is only the beginning of an apocalypse."

"I _really_ don't appreciate your negativity now," he retorted against her teasing tone.

"Alright," J'onn interrupted, "Are you ready, Supergirl?"

"Yeah," she answered nervously.

"Be careful..." Alex whispered, sitting back and leaning against the walls.

"I will, sis," the blonde smiled, "You okay?"

"Just a little tired, but I'll be fine."

"You're going to have to carry me along cause there's no way in hell I can fly faster than the speed of light," Hal reminded her.

Before she put on the ring, she turned to the Green Lantern, "Do you by any chance know the White Lantern oath?"

Hal folded his arms, "Not a lick."

Her expression fell.

"But," he said, "You're automatically given the knowledge once you wear the ring. So, there's nothing to worry about along that field. And it protects you from outer space's wonky gravity, pressure, lack of oxygen...the like. It's...it's going to feel overwhelming at first."

Kara took a deep breath and donned the ring.

She collapsed, her senses heightening to a level she never thought possible, and she bolted through the portal, dragging the Green Lantern with her.

"How long is it going to take them to reach the Warworld?" Lucy asked.

"By my calculations it should be in ten minutes," J'onn replied, "Maybe five or ten to navigate through the maze and destroy the core since she has x-ray vision."

"I can only hold the tear open for an hour," Raven reiterated.

"She'll make it," the brunette whispered, "She has to."

"Barricade the doors!" the sorceress suddenly shouted, "Nekron's armies are coming!"

* * *

"The laser emitter should be almost charged by now," Green Lantern explained through his earpiece as he drifted through the labyrinth to avoid the battle drones, "The interior has swarms of these things. I've also noticed some repair drones, but don't mind them, just focus on maneuvering through the stasis chambers and you'll eventually get to the core. I'll hold off the drones for as long as I can. Good luck."

It did not take long for Supergirl to locate the center of the weaponized planet, "How much power do you think it takes to snuff out the core?"

"I'm going to assume a shit ton, so take it easy, kid," Hal warned.

By this point Kara was already profusely bleeding from her nose, and the internal hemorrhaging was beginning to take a toll on her as she could feel every single one of her veins rupturing.

A bright white aura surrounded her, she could feel the solar energy pulsing throughout her body, enslaving her with its raw power.

Kara could feel her heart beat faster, then she spoke, "In brightest day, there will be light. To cleanse the soul and set wrongs right. When darkness falls, look to the skies. A new dawn comes, let there be light!"

A pillar of iridescent energy projected itself from the ring and into the planet's core, causing its columns to shake and crumble as white monoliths took their places.

* * *

"How long has it been," Lucy asked, worried.

"Forty minutes," J'onn replied, blocking the last of the doors to the room.

"I can't hold it for much longer," Raven breathed, her strength draining.

* * *

"Supergirl, you have to stop!" Green Lantern shouted behind her, their surroundings became pure white and crystallized due to the ring's power, "You'll kill yourself! The Lantern Corps are here, let them take care of the rest of it!"

"No, I'm almost there! I can't stop now!"

Kara's body was wearing down, at this point several cuts were appearing all over her skin, oozing out an alarming amount of blood. Still, she fought on.

_For Alex, Eliza, J'onn...Lucy..._

There was a booming sound and the shockwave sent Kara flying into Hal, the other Lanterns cheered and helped up the injured.

He grunted, adjusting his grip, "I've got Supergirl! She's badly wounded! We're coming back!"

"You have ten minutes," Raven replied, "Hurry. The army is gone and I don't sense any other peculiar disturbance on the Warworld."

"Take off the ring!" Lucy screamed through the earpiece.

"She'll suffocate!" Hal countered, flying as fast as he could.

As the Green Lantern neared the portal, he could see it shrink as the seconds passed, "C'mon, witch! We're almost there! Hold it open just a bit longer!"

"I'm _trying_ ," Raven grunted.

"Five...four...three..." the Lantern reached his hand out.

Lucy could see the pair zooming their way towards them and stepped forward, reaching her arm through the opening.

"No! Don't! Get back!" Raven shouted, "Something's wrong! Our side of the portal is unstable!"

But it was too late, as their fingertips were about to touch, the brunette vanished into thin air.

Hal broke through the portal, him and Supergirl falling onto the ground, and Alex scooted over to remove the ring to allow the damaged skin to seal itself.

"What happened to Director Lane?" J'onn demanded.

"I don't know..." Raven panted, standing from the floor, "The pulse from the Warworld malfunctioned my magic. The portal essentially hiccupped and left it vulnerable. Something trespassed and took advantage of the opportunity to capture her."

"J'onn, can you trace Director Lane's location? I'll join you in a minute," Alex said.

The Martian nodded, heading towards the computers.

The auburn-haired woman caressed her little sister's bloodied face and repeatedly patted the blonde's cheeks in an attempt to wake her up.

The agent felt tears stinging her eyes as she checked for a pulse, "Her heart's beating normally, I don't see why..."

The Green Lantern groaned in annoyance, "Let me try."

Hal got up with much difficulty and wheezed, clutching the front of Kara's suit and lifting her slightly above the floor. He gave her a vigorous slap, "Bitch! I got your ass back through the portal and the least you could do is wake the fuck up and thank me!"

Kara began to stir and felt something wet drop on her cheek, then another and another. She opened her eyes, her pupils straining from the light of the facility, "What happened?"

She saw Alex, tears streaking her face and trickling down from her chin. Then she was locked in a tight embrace.

Supergirl tilted her head towards the Green Lantern and smiled, "Thanks. I owe you one."

"I'm really grateful for what you did, for bringing her back," the older Danvers sniffed.

"Don't mention it, guys," he grinned, his exhaustion causing him to slump back down onto the floor, "Whew...that was a close call though, thanks, witch."

He winked.

Raven nodded, "It looks like anyone under Nekron's control has been reversed thanks to the her. Or the ring. The shockwave's influx surged to Earth and revived members in the army, they're currently reporting back and in recovery, and the hospitals are booked. The rest of us are helping out, so I have to go. Unfortunately, anyone that died before this war is going to stay that way."

"Awww," the Lantern, "So I can't meet Tupac?"

The sorceress rolled her eyes before teleporting back to the Teen Titans.

A calm silence ensued, and the group relished in it.

Then the quiet was broken when Hal chuckled, "You know...I kind of like the White Lantern oath better."

The blonde laughed.

"We've all been fighting for almost a day," he sighed, hovering in the air, "The sun rises in two hours... You're buying me a drink when this's all over, and hopefully the rain stops by that time."

Supergirl watched the Green Lantern fly away and rose from the ground, with her older sister supporting her body.

"Kar, take it easy."

"I'm all right, just a little sore and achy," she shrugged and recoiled from the grip, the movement made her tender muscles stretch and she grimaced.

Then she noticed that someone was missing, "Where's Lucy?"

Alex frowned and took a deep breath, "We don't know..."

Kara stiffened and felt her heart stutter, "What?"

"She tried to reach out and pull you guys in, but Raven's warning didn't come in time. We don't know where she is..."

The blonde had an exasperated look, her voice became heated, "What do you mean that you 'don't know'? She was with you guys the entire time! How could you lose her!"

"I'm sorry, J'onn is trying to track her right now. It's that we had a glitch on our side of the gate and teleported her somewhere else," Alex rubbed her little sister's shoulders comfortingly, her voice soft and caring, "Don't worry. We won't give up. We'll find her if it's the last thing we do. The only thing we know right now is that she's still alive, and right now that's all that matters."

Kara swallowed her resentful feelings, her expression faltering into a sullen one, repeating the phrase to herself, "She's still alive..."

"The Orange and Black Lantern armies were wiped out, along with Mongul, Brainiac, and Darkseid. Nekron escaped, but he won't come back again," Alex smiled proudly, "You did it. You saved _everyone_. The undead armies were reversed by the White Lantern ring. You heard Raven, everybody killed during this war is alive and recovering."

"But I couldn't save her..." Kara's eyes drooped.

Alex cupped her cheeks and tilted her head up, "Hey, I told you we'd find her."

The blonde constrained a smile and nodded reluctantly.

* * *

Lucy's skin glistened as beads of sweat dribbled down her neck, she had spent the last who knows how long heaving side to side in a vain attempt to escape. The crystalline ebony cocoon was made of some unbreakable material.

She panted and gave up, hanging her head towards the ground. The rain drenched her hair and she watched the strands collect the water and drip a few feet below.

The formless figure in front of her crowed, his voice rooted and profound, "Already?"

Lucy's eyes slimmed, "What?"

"Have you already accepted defeat?" his voice echoed.

"She'll come for me, and when she does, we're going to apprehend you, lock you away forever."

"Mere mortals like you can't imprison a sacrosanct like me," he snarled, "I'm a spirit, a demon, darkness itself, wrath and vengeance made flesh...omnipotent. I was cast aside by the spirit you call 'creator' and 'God'."

His form materialized into what looked like a pale gray and blue hobgoblin; he was adorned with deep mauve garments that draped over his muscular frame. A pitch-black crystal was embedded into the center of his chest, which seemed to be radiating a dark amount of energy, but what was more striking about his features was his wide, sinister grin, proudly exhibiting his long canines.

"Supergirl destroyed the Warworld along with the villains you work for, and that 'mere mortal' will do the same to you."

The goblin cackled, "I'm expecting her, and I speak for the once Great Triumvirate and myself...we want the last daughter of Krypton."

Lucy frowned, "Why?"

The being tilted the brunette's head up. She felt a stinging pain on her chin and flinched away.

He clicked his tongue, "Humans are so frail and decrepit... This hallow touch transcends your feeble comprehension; you can't understand my divination. Such a shame that you're so base and so primitive."

"Why do you want her?" Lucy repeated, her brows creasing.

"My name is Eclipso," he gloated, "I'm seeking a new vessel powerful enough for me to possess, and Kara Zor-El is my solution."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	24. Blight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eclipso captures Lucy under the Great Triumvirate's last orders before their deaths, prompting Supergirl to come and save the woman she loves, and he wants the last Kryptonian survivor.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Blight

* * *

"We've picked up a disturbance in the center of National City," J'onn informed, "Just outside of the capitol statehouse."

"This signature emission is nothing humanity has ever seen before," Alex commented, analyzing the data, "We have nothing on any of the alien files either. We're up against something else."

"Eclipso," J'onn confirmed, "He's fused with the Heart of Darkness."

"What's that?"

"A black diamond that was mined on Darkseid's world, Apokolips. I'm assuming he tethered the gem to the daemon Eclipso before dying."

"This was their plan b? Why would they..."

"Darkseid, Brainiac, and Mongul were obsessed with the Kryptonian race, as they were the only species they encountered that successfully resisted their attempts at conquering. They probably want to kill the last survivor..."

He saw from his peripheral vision that Kara was sitting down, hunched over and clenching her fists so hard they were shaking. Her entire body trembled with anger.

J'onn coughed, continuing, "Eclipso shares the same interest, but not the vendetta against Kryptonians. He's taken notice of what she can do and has probably deemed her a suitable chassis for his possession. Eclipso is not an alien, he's a deity in a somatic form."

"Like, the ones you regularly go to a shrine and praise for?"

"Precisely."

"I've never been all that religious," Alex sighed, "But after this I'll definitely beseech at an altar more often. Can he be killed?"

"Fortunately, yes," J'onn answered, "We have a chantry in the lowest level of the D.E.O."

"Wait, hold on," Alex said, raising her hands, tailing the Martian with Kara following close behind, "Why wasn't I told this?"

"This facility is simply to house it," J'onn explained, entering the elevator and activating the mechanism, "We've made a coalition with several other top secret government organizations, so only commanders and chiefs can access the room."

"Are we really going to pray Eclipso to death?" Alex scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Not exactly," the Martian smirked, entering the spacious room.

They scanned the area; it was oblique, at the center was an illuminated column, housing a protracted staff with two extensive prongs protruding from the head. Upon closer inspection, the color was almost achromatic; it had an ashen silver tint and looked as if it was made from sterling alabaster.

"Longinus, the Holy Spear," J'onn said, "It's an immaculate, celestial weapon. Stronger than promethium, inertron, and the ninth metal combined. They were created by Maltusians, commonly known as the Guardians of the Universe, leaders of the Lantern Corps. It's like a condensed form of the Starheart, manipulated from what they called the Glow."

Alex scrutinized the elongated weapon, poring over every detail. She nodded, as if it had passed her examination, "Why keep it here though?"

"The Lanterns experienced carnage, many of the members were decimated. The massacre prompted the Guardians to place it under Earth's care, so anyone who wanted to pursue the sacred item wouldn't think to look within such an archaic planet."

J'onn stepped up onto the heightened plate and clasped his fingers around the holy rod. He turned and conveyed the weapon in front of Supergirl, which retracted into a more portable size, "Eclipso is a formidable enemy. Use Longinus wisely."

Kara nodded and gripped the handle, it was compact and was surprisingly lightweight, like a feather.

"Try to pull back as much as you can and hold in your strength; save it for later when the sun rises, the light's his primary weakness and it disintegrates his corporeal form."

J'onn encircled Kara's body. She was shocked with the embrace, but eventually reciprocated.

"Be vigilant, he's nefarious, has tricks up his sleeve, and he's infamous for his arbitrary and sadistic fighting," the Martian warned, "And if you're struck by Longinus...its material essentially ruptures the cells that it's pierced."

It was Alex's turn to wrap her arms around her little sister, "You can fly faster than the speed of light, wield the White Lantern ring, destroy a planetary superweapon, banish the Nekron into exile, and eliminate the most heinous villains. I know you can bring Lucy back."

Supergirl smiled, "Thanks, sis."

"Ready to save the world again, Kar?" Alex chuckled.

"I'm always ready," Kara grinned.

* * *

Eclipso blinked, straightening up from his meditative stance, "She's coming..."

"It's not too late to beg for your life," Lucy smirked.

The daemon scowled, his glowering eyes staring into the very depth of the woman's soul, "Perhaps _witnessing_ the power I wield doesn't enlighten you."

The brunette glared at the monster in front of her, "I'm 'enlightened' plenty, thank you."

"Maybe your remarks will quaver once I _show_ you what a deity is capable of," he chuckled, shattering the crystalline cocoon like it was made of glass.

Lucy reacted, her quick reflexes landing her on her feet, and she did not hesitate to swing a left punch towards her captor, who easily caught her fist within his cold palm.

"I'll infect you with the purest form of darkness," Eclipso snarled.

A gasp came out of Lucy's mouth once she felt the same sting travel from his hand to hers. The darkness invaded her system, the sleeve of her outfit torn from its movements. She saw the blackness overcome the lively hue of her veins; it snaked its way up her arm torturously slow, the pain growing more intense every passing second.

Lucy shrieked once the blight reached her shoulder, then her neck, but her voice faltered. Then she was on her knees, and the next thing she knew the grip on her released and she collapsed onto the concrete with a loud thud. The pressure coiling within her blood felt like her limb was going to explode, and finally she let out a chilling scream.

The soldier cradled her left arm, tears stinging her eyes.

Eclipso crouched to meet her clouded eyes, "It'll eventually go away, the pain. A pity really. I love watching weaklings like you suffer."

As the goblin was about to inflict more pain, Supergirl shoved him, sending him crashing into the building across.

"And I love kicking jerks' asses like yours," Kara interrupted, then rushed to Lucy's side.

"What took you so long?" the brunette scolded, almost chuckling, still clutching her arm in pain. She could barely see the expression on her lover's face, but the moon's light accentuated the color of her bright blue eyes.

"Seriously?" Supergirl scoffed, picking the injured woman up and into her arms, "A 'thank you' would be nice."

The Kryptonian dashed into a nearby building, "I'll keep you safe, just stay in here until Alex comes back with the cavalry. Or at least what's left of them. Her team's searching for the weapons shipments from the Conglomerate."

The brunette nodded, wincing, by this time the pain had somewhat ebbed.

"You know what I'm up against, Luce?" Kara asked, gently examining the woman's wounded arm.

"A _shit_ ton of pain if you get hit, but luckily its temporary," she replied, flinching away, remembering the agony, "And there's the fact that he's pretty much a wicked god that punishes whoever he wants, but no biggie."

Kara gave a dry laugh in response.

Then the ground quaked, a ray of darkness decayed the walls of the building. His charcoal smoke enveloping Supergirl and tossing her into the next structure. She removed the rubble on top of her body and dusted herself off.

"Like the taste of your own medicine?" Eclipso growled, stalking towards his downed opponent, "You arrived quite suddenly...did the excruciating cries of your beloved act as a beacon?"

Kara did not appreciate his jester, her orbs glowed a neon blue, and she freed a blaze of lasers from her eyes.

Unfortunately, he vanished, the trail of his mist polluting the rainy air.

Supergirl x-rayed her surroundings, blinking the water droplets from her eyelashes, but was unable to detect anything.

A feathery stream of wind tickled her ear.

"Your sight won't help you here..." Eclipso whispered, surfacing from the ground and tapping the center of her forehead with his index finger, "Maybe I can help you."

Her x-ray vision activated against her will, then everything became much too loud.

Kara collapsed to her knees and cried out. Her senses hyped up, every little sound like blades piercing her drums and causing them to bleed, even when she covered her ears. Her x-ray vision flickered repeatedly, causing her sight to become blurry, dizzying her.

Eclipso took this opportunity to jab the center of Kara's chest, the seismic wave effectively fracturing her sternum, the vibrations traveling to several of her ribs and cracking them.

She did not even have time to shout in pain as the goblin utilized the force of the blow to his advantage and gripped the back of his target's head, slamming her skull onto his knee and letting her fall to the ground.

The alien choked back a grunt and her arms wobbled as she pushed herself up. She began to see double, then triple, so she shook her head to clear her view, but it did little to help and served only to escalate the pulse in her cranium. A thick liquid ran down from her nostrils.

Kara speedily landed an uppercut, breaking Eclipso's jaw and sending him flying through the air. The force of his landing created a crater in the concrete, he grinned, wiping his obsidian blood from the corner of his lips.

He reset his jaw and cracked his neck, laughing maniacally, "I think I'm going to have some fun with you."

The hero straightened her back and widened her stance. Blood was dampening her blonde hair, turning it into a sickly brown color, and it oozed from the top of her head and down onto her face.

Kara swayed slightly, the trauma to her skull taking a toll on her focus. She batted her lids to get the blood out of her eyes and propelled herself from the terrain, striking her body weight against Eclipso.

The fighters crashed against the capitol, and Supergirl, in retrospect, realized it might not have been the best idea. She shut her eyes, hoping it would alleviate her doubled range of view; her sight became less twisted conveniently when Eclipso made a rapid movement to clock her with a right hook.

She evaded the snap of his fist by just a hair and countered with a roundhouse kick to his side, making him fall onto one knee, then a swift punch to the side of his scalp.

Kara withdrew and ambled backwards, anticipating an offensive, but the opposition never came and it caught her off guard.

Eclipso lifted his head and blasted ebony rays from his pupils, hitting his target square in the chest and sending her slamming into the wall behind her.

The darkness that tainted her torso was arctic, the iciness so intense it felt scalding and torrid. She fell to her knees, but intercepted her complete collapse by placing her palms against the ground to support her weight.

Supergirl wailed, the pain took her breath away and was almost too much to bear. Her fingers spasmed and she registered the sore aching in her knuckles. They were likely broken from landing too many hits on her enemy's diamond-hard skin.

Kara used all of her strength and leaped to the side, away from Eclipso's charge, and rolled along the landscape and sprang to her feet.

"Stay still!" he whined, firing another round of black lasers from his eyes.

"Kara, move!" Lucy screeched.

The warning reached her and the blonde dodged, but the ray nicked her side, leading to her crash landing. Before she could decide to flip up, Eclipso took off and grabbed her by the throat, piloting high against the wind.

Once they were multiple stories above in the night sky, he dove down to the tallest building.

Kara slammed right through the granite roof, making her back muscles rip from the impact. Then she smashed through another floor and another until at last her back took the brunt of the force from the ground, creating a cavity within the concrete.

She coughed out blood and let out a choked groan before she felt herself being lifted off until her feet were dangling in the air.

"Look at you," Eclipso snickered, "You're pathetic."

It was true; the cape was tattered, the front of the suit had quite a number of incisions, and the back was littered with tears that were overflowing with blood from the many floors she crashed through. Supergirl's physical condition was worse; lacerations scattered her body, her ears bled from the level of noise when he increased her hearing sensitivity, her nose was profusely oozing a waterfall of the crimson liquid, and it was likely her lungs were on the verge of collapsing due to the sanguine fluid filling up her air cavities.

Kara wheezed in response, it was too difficult for her to breathe, and she closed her eyes and prepared herself for the final blow.

That did not arrive either. Instead, Eclipso flung the wounded hero onto the remains of the building.

The blonde cried out, the debris and gritty pebbles dug into her torn back. She turned over so her stomach faced the rubble, trying to relieve the stinging pain, and she suddenly found that she was unable to get up; her arms ached, her legs were sore, her mind was fading, but her heartrate spiked when she felt a boot on the middle of her lower back, pressing down.

Kara could only manage a squeak and watched as her blood was washed away by the rain, the water creating a current into a dip in the ground. She watched as her blood was pooled into the shallow hole, diluting from the amount of water.

"The angel of National City has finally fallen," Eclipso chuckled, running his tongue over his lips, "But where are your wings? Maybe I'll give you a pair." He gazed to the source of the dawn, the sun was beginning to rise, but was overshadowed by the dull gray clouds.

The monster formed a menacing dagger in his hand from the dark cloud that enveloped his figure and buried the blade into Kara's shoulder blade. He uprooted the knife just a little and began to carve vertically downward into her skin until it reached the end of the bone. Then he did the same with her other shoulder blade.

His victim's voice was too hoarse to produce a scream, so instead she whimpered.

A harpoon pierced Eclipso's body as he yelped and switched into a grappling hook.

"Get over here you son of a bitch!" Alex shouted, yanking him far back away from her little sister, "Give him everything you got!"

Showers of all types of bullets bombarded Eclipso: explosives, gases, poisons, incendiaries...

An agent ran over to Supergirl and slung her arm around his shoulders as he placed a hand on her hip, eliciting groan from her.

"Sorry..." he apologized, helping her limp away from the gun blazing fight, "We contacted Director, um, _J'onn_ is coming soon, maybe he can fly you back."

Kara's stance wobbled, her gait uneven and unsteady, "It's...it's okay..."

"Enough!" Eclipso exclaimed, sending a sonic wave to push them back. His dark shadows crept and confiscated all of the soldiers' weapons, then he encircled himself with the firearms, now pointing towards the humans. His appearance looked almost as bad as Supergirl, covered in his ebony-colored blood.

"Bye-bye," the goblin sang, opening fire on the troops.

"Take cover!" Alex shouted.

Once he was finished massacring the rest of the agents, he pressed his palm against the center of his chest and pulled out the obsidian diamond, which lengthened into a pitch-black spear.

He observed Lucy, who was helping the injured up, and whispered to himself, "If I can't take Kara Zor-El with me, then you'll have to do. That is...if you can take it."

He pulled his arm back.

Supergirl broke free from the agent's grip and ran toward the unsuspecting brunette, who's back was averted.

Eclipso casted his weapon towards the human, then his soul entered the spear.

"Lucy, watch out!"

The soldier heard her name a made to twist around.

She halted her spin when she saw her beloved, their gazes connected.

The blonde's eyes were wide open in shock, and so were hers.

They both glanced down at the dark lance that impaled Kara's back then out through the middle of her torso.

Lucy watched the hero gasp, her mouth opened to release a river of black liquid that viscously cascaded its way down her chin and dripped onto the ground. A fountain of the substance chuted from the wound and down her abdomen.

The javelin seemed to be shrinking in size, like the material entered Kara's body and seized it.

Finally, the hero fell.

"No!" Lucy reached her arms out and caught the woman into her arms. She knelt on the ground, unaware of the left-over agents grouping around the scene, along with Alex, who matched the desperate and tragic look on the young Lane's face.

The tears instantly formed, the both of them unable to hold back their grief and sorrow. Lucy stroked Kara's cheek, it was cold, and she was deathly pale.

The older Danvers sat next to her, and rested her head against her little sister's chest, trying to listen for a heartbeat.

Nothing.

Seconds passed.

A minute.

Three minutes.

She began to weep freely, the onlooking agents turning their heads away, their faces somber.

_Thump._

Alex snapped her head back up, trying to process what she had just heard. Then she listened to Kara's chest again.

_Thump._

"There's a pulse," she yelled, half panicked and half relieved, "Get a med eva..."

A powerful wave sent anyone and anything surrounding the Kryptonian a few feet away.

She rose, her head hunched down.

"Kara?" Lucy said, though it was not really a question.

The alien slowly tilted her face up, the expression behind her hair diabolical and almost...satanic.

"No..." she said, her lips contorting into a devilish grin, "Eclipso."

This wicked 'Kara' broadened her shoulders, her void eyes jading into an obsidian color, and she let out a creepy chuckle.

"Shit!" Alex cursed, whipping out her rifle, "Everyone, fall back! Eclipso's still a hostile! I repeat, Eclipso's still a hostile!"

The possessed body unleashed an infernal ray of darkness from her eyes, condemning and damning everyone it touched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	25. The Final Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle has commenced. Is it the beginning of the end, or will they be able to free Supergirl from Eclipso's control? Unbeknownst to Kara and Lucy, they both face desperate measures that call for a paramount decision to be made.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# The Final Battle

* * *

Right as Alex dove for cover, the beam marked itself on her calf.

She shouted in pain, Lucy sliding in right next to her behind the large slab of rock.

"It's temporary," the brunette reassured her, "It's just going to hurt a shit ton for a while."

"How long is 'temporary'?"

"Five to ten minutes depending on how hard you were hit."

"Director, we don't even have _three_ minutes on our hands if the rest of the agents are falling like flies," Alex said, blinking and coughing out the dust from the destruction, "J'onn should be here soon."

"How long is 'soon'?" Lucy asked, her tone mocking.

The agent shrugged, "I don't know."

"Well, that's comforting."

"Let's just get him some time."

"Did you guys contact more backup before this?"

"No, we only have J'onn. He's taking care of some leftover renegades near the DEO," Alex replied, almost sheepishly, "The Lanterns returned to their sectors, Wonder Woman and her sisters went back to Theymiscira to heal the wounded...pretty much all of the badass heroes decided to go home and help out their cities. So, we're pretty much just a group of ten humans and a Martian that's running kind of late."

Lucy groaned, "This's quite the predicament."

"Any ideas for the problem at hand, Director?" Alex hissed, clutching her leg.

"Yeah...it's not the brightest plan," the brunette confessed, rubbing the back of her neck, "Just stay here or somewhere safe. I'm going to try and get that spear from her belt."

"Are you _insane_?"

"Not really, considering that Longinus is the only thing that can stop Eclipso and his God complex, or even kill him, and potentially bring her back."

Lucy peered over the barrier and took a peek. The possessed Kara was on a rampage, ravaging the majority of the environment around her with dark vision and super strength. Luckily, some of the agents were well-trained and competent enough to avoid most of her offenses. It seemed that the hero's body was being even more corrupted each passing minute. The long lance that struck through her body was nowhere to be seen, as if it had receded into its host, spreading through her arteries into her vitals and the rest of her system. By this point the emblem of the House of El was eclipsed by the murky tar-like substance, and she could see the black corruption on her neck, traveling through her veins. Not to mention the once beautiful sea blue eyes were now void of any color, the darkness clouding the orbs in the sockets.

Alex narrowed her eyes, skeptic of the situation.

_How do you even know whether or not that weapon won't kill my little sister?_

The older Danvers shook the thought out of her mind, "You're crazy, I don't know how Kara deals with you."

Lucy chuckled before bolting out of cover.

"Idiot..." Alex sighed.

* * *

"Why can't I stop? What am I _doing_?" Kara asked herself, "What is this place?"

The blonde stood up and soaked in the sight before her.

The vermillion moon shined its dim light upon the land.

It was a city.

Or what was left of it.

A sinister chuckle sounded from behind her, "You're in my possession. My new vessel. And this..."

Eclipso made a wide gesture to the ruins in front of them, "This is your hell."

Then it occurred to Kara that what she was seeing was the remains of National City.

The goblin slammed his fist into Supergirl's chest, sending her flying back, "You're in no control of your physical existence, but don't worry, I'll let you watch every second of what your very hands are doing to the humans you care so much about."

A vague scene played within Kara's subconscious.

_Multiple D.E.O. agents were scrambling to hide, and she was toying with them, picking them off slowly one by one._

_She lifted a man by the throat and gradually increased the pressure she was making._

"Don't!" Kara screamed, shooting Eclipso a glare, "Stop! Your fight is with me! Don't bring them into this!"

"Oh, but it's just so _fun_."

_Eventually, the man's screams of pain halted when a foul snap was heard._

_She tossed his ragdoll of a body to the side and grinned._

"Bastard!" Kara sped to the monster's direction and retaliated with a punch to his stomach, making him reel back.

"Don't worry," Eclipso laughed, "I'll save your loved ones for last."

* * *

"Tsung's dead!" Alex warned through the earpiece, "Don't engage! It looks like Eclipso hasn't taken full control of her body yet, Kara keeps hesitating, I think she's fighting back!"

"Move, Agent Danvers!" Lucy shouted, "She's targeted you! Get out of there!"

Alex was one step ahead of death when the stone broke into several chunks, but a rather large remnant pinned itself on her. Luckily, she felt nothing more than a bruise. However, the woman was unable to lift the weight, even with the adrenaline as she saw Kara stalking towards her.

"Shit... I'm done for..." Alex cursed, "Kar, if you can hear me, _please_ stop! You're stronger than this! Don't fall into his control!"

But it was Eclipso that replied, "Oh no...she's not _really_ under my dominion."

A boot set itself firmly on top of the rock, increasing the pressure significantly to cause the human to have trouble breathing, "Your precious little sister's very own bottled up anger serves as fuel for me to navigate her physiology."

All of a sudden, Lucy pounced onto Kara's back and attempted to subdue her with a choke hold.

"Nuisance," the alien muttered, activating a wave of dark energy. The pulse projected the soldier's body with such force that her skull cracked, allowing passage for her blood to flow out and over half of her face.

She was unable to move due to the shock, and she felt herself beginning to lose consciousness.

_No, no, no, not now. Get up. Get up! Come on!_

Lucy only managed to twitch her fingertips with all of the effort she exerted.

Alex scrambled for her Kryptonite rifle, fumbling with the bullets and wasting a few priceless seconds before shooting three rounds that pierced her sister's back.

Kara growled and shifted her focus around, but was quickly tackled by a large body.

"I know you don't want to do this," J'onn said, his voice solemn, "Please, let us help you."

The Martian's offer was met with a ferocious hiss, "I don't _need_ your help!"

The Kryptonian thrusted herself from the ground, launching her body against the tall alien and sending him soaring through a window. She speedily closed the distance just as J'onn rose and connected her fist to his jaw; the uppercut made him zoom straight through the ceiling.

"Don't worry," Kara chuckled, "I'll make it quick with you."

The blonde clutched his suit and hurled him off the building, his landing was hard if the callous stones in the rubble were of any indication.

J'onn groaned, but choked up blood once he felt a tough force strike his chest, then he blacked out after a savage kick in the head.

"Worthless," she spat.

* * *

Kara's eyes flooded tears as she attempted to land a punch against Eclipso, who's agility almost effortlessly evaded her messy offensive.

"Heartbreaking, isn't it?" he teased, "So touching, that's what's so fascinating about most humanoids, but their sentimentality gets in the way of their progression."

The deity smacked Supergirl on the cheek, who recoiled at the contact and countered with a kick to his side, which only caused him to grunt and slightly shift his position.

However, Kara saw the split second of an opening and took it, lurching her leg behind and using the distance to accelerate her lower limb to an unfathomable velocity.

Her body weight behind the attack directed him backwards tons of feet in the air.

Eclipso was noticeably limping due to the ridiculously powerful injury he sustained, "I'm not going easy on you anymore."

"Bring it on," Kara taunted.

* * *

"I've got a visual on them!" Alex informed the agents, "Get to higher ground with your Kryptonite weapons and take her down on my orders!"

They dispersed and were at their positions within minutes.

"Open fire!"

A storm of bullets hailed upon Kara, making her collapse on all fours, panting heavily.

"Stop!" Lucy screamed, lowering Alex's and her weapons, "Don't kill her!"

When the dust cleared, they saw the damage they did to Supergirl's body. Her back had the green shards embedded within her, scattered all over the plane. Kara quickly removed them and the Kryptonite was strewn about.

The blonde scowled at Alex for giving the order and darted at the human, clutching her shoulders and flying high in the sky, until the grip loosened and sent the agent falling towards her death.

J'onn acted as Kara was distracted and drifted to catch the woman safely in his arms, but he was so weak that he faltered, unable to land.

They rolled harshly on the debris before passing out.

Lucy activated her earpiece, "If any staff are left in the DEO, we need extraction for six people _immediately_!" then ordered her subordinates, "Agents, get in pairs for over-watch, don't rout!"

The soldier bit the pin off of her fragmentation grenade and tossed.

Kara seized the shell in midair and it exploded in her palm.

The smoke cleared and the alien seemed unfazed by the impact, even though the right sleeve of her super suit was shredded up to her shoulder, revealing the grisly, bloodstained burn wound. Kara's injuries looked severe, her outfit was littered with slits and gashes.

The vehement look in her eyes made her behavior seem rabid and delirious. At this point her actions were almost deranged, unhinged.

Lucy had a hunch for what was about to come, but that was all she needed, "Run!"

The vessel discharged her solar flare and it incinerated three agents who failed to escape the area of effect.

This 'Kara' had a disturbing grin on her face, like she was enjoying the fact that the very people that looked up to her were being scorched alive, screeching at the inferno before death took them.

The possessed hero instantly appeared in front of one of the agents and chortled, "Three..."

_Crack._

Her head was smashed in.

Then she darted to another DEO member and gripped his collar, whispering, "Two..."

Suddenly he was in the sky, nowhere to be seen, until a few seconds later a distant terrified scream grew in volume.

The voice ceased when the body splatted onto the pavement.

Kara fixed her gaze on the last survivor, eyes boring into her victim's soul, "One..."

"Shit," Lucy cursed, lifting her pistol from its pouch and shooting a bullet before the dreadful click sounded, indicating its emptied chamber.

"Shit," she repeated, then dove out of the way, scrambling for cover.

* * *

"Don't touch her!" Kara screamed, grabbing the menace by his neck, "I swear I'll..."

"Kill me?" he chuckled, "Like you did with Lex Luthor?"

Her eyes widened and she struck him, "Shut up."

"What? Not to mention the fact that you're the reason your Aunt Astra was imprisoned."

Another punch, "I said shut up!"

"And poor Kal-El," he sighed, "You were sent to protect your cousin and you failed. What a shame."

"Bastard!" Kara gave an uppercut, breathing heavily, emotional from his words.

Eclipso stood up, "You know it's true. Deep down inside you, I can feel that you believe it. Your survivor's guilt."

He slowly walked towards her, continuing, "You're worried about the fact that you're the last remnant of Krypton, that you must hold onto the burden of billions of lives, of carrying your destroyed culture. Unfortunately for you, you can't pass on those traditions as it's _extremely_ difficult to breed with any humanoid species, _especially_ humans. So really, it's going to be _your_ fault that Krypton died...because you _let_ its legacy fade."

Each word struck every sensitive nerve within Kara, and as much as she refused to admit it, she did feel tremendous guilt.

Eclipso saw this opportunity and probed even further, intent on making the weight on her shoulders crush her spirit, he giggled, "Oh...but you found _hope_. Hope in Lucy Lane."

Kara's head snapped up at the mention of the name and glared icy daggers at him.

He ignored it, "Such a beautiful human...inside _and_ out. She's strong, willful, persistent, courageous, influential...among other things. The perfect one in your eyes."

The goblin chuckled, "And now you'll watch her life snuff out...by none other than your very own hands."

He poked the forehead of the heavyhearted hero, very much emotionally broken if her forlorn expression was of any indication, and laughed, "Would you like to relive those moments?"

Kara was pulled into a hypnotic state and fell to her knees, her eyes void of anything as she experienced once again her horrific childhood memories.

When the vivid flashbacks ceased, she cried and shouted, the tears streaming down her face from the emotionally taxing endeavor.

Eclipso sighed dramatically, "I've lived before the time of humans and beings like yours, and I've seen this all too often..."

He strolled around Kara, "You love Lucy. You _really_ do love her with all your heart."

He brushed his hand over her shoulders, "And here's the miracle..."

The monster leaned into the blonde's ear and whispered, "She loves you so much too."

Eclipso returned to circling the distraught hero, "You're _allowed_ to lick off the color from her lips, to listen to the hymns of her pulse, to bask in the sunlight of her voice. You're _allowed_ to have her."

"But here's the tragedy..." he shook his head slowly, "It's not enough... It's never enough..."

Then Eclipso halted in front of Kara, "You can watch the sun swallow her hole and burn her up. You can stain your fingers to the bone holding her together. You can count the constellations in her eyes as they blink out."

He frowned and tilted his head, "But you're not allowed to save her..."

He chuckled, "I'm a different case though," his eyes narrowed, "I'll _make_ you watch."

Shadowy smoke was excreted from the perforations of his forearm and instantly stabbed right through Kara's chest.

There was no blood at least, but the pain that entered the pores of her skin was much worse than his dark rays and she succumbed to the icy sensation, collapsing onto the ground, unable to scream.

* * *

"Kara!" Lucy shouted angrily, "You have to stop this! I know you can! Don't do this to us! Your family! Your friends!"

Another slab of concrete was thrown her way, which missed and toppled the rubble behind.

_I need to get that spear._

The soldier eyed the lance strapped to the hero's side, her mind calculating methods of action a million miles a second.

However, her thought process distracted her. She lost a split second to escape the wrath of the possessed Kara and was dragged back by her ankle.

The blonde pressed her foot down on Lucy's calf, grinned, then snapped the bone.

"Gah!" the scream came, shocked.

Then a fist lifted her by the collar and projected her body, which slammed against a column.

Lucy's breath was taken out from under her, she struggled to regain evenness with her pumping heart and lungs.

The brunette grunted and agonizingly attempted to crawl away, the debris of the rocks embedding themselves into her broken calf.

She felt another slight pressure, this time on top of her knee on the other leg, which quickly snapped through the cap and warped her joint and bones.

"Ah!" Lucy let out a lengthy shriek, and was unprepared for the hand clenching the back of her shirt.

The soldier was in the air, then smashed through the window of a building and hit the back wall with such speed the force caused it to slightly crack.

Lucy exhaled, feeling a sharp pain in her spine.

_Something's definitely fractured back there..._

Despite her physical state, she managed to prop herself up into a sitting position, her right hand limply holding the spear she managed to snatch from the confrontations.

Lucy's concentration was wavering, her focus blurry. However, she could make out a blurry human shape running towards her to plant the finishing blow, but it was like it was in slow motion, her mind too hazy to process almost anything.

* * *

Kara refused to stop fighting and slightly resisted Eclipso's fog ability, her arms were shaking from the tension building in her muscles to life herself up. She failed and plopped onto the ground again, but she did not stop trying.

Again, and again, and again.

Eclipso laughed at her attempts, "It looks like your beloved will die any second now...and you'll join her not too long afterwards..."

He smirked.

* * *

" _Please..._ " the brunette's voice cracked, "Let's go home...Mu and Asa are waiting for us to come back..."

"I can't raise them alone..." she whispered, " _Please..._ "

Kara was gaining on her, she was so close, her fist lunged back, ready to strike.

Lucy raised the lance, it elongated to its full size, then she pointed it forwards.

* * *

"No!" Kara yelled, conjuring every last bit of her strength and willpower to spring up and lock her arms around Eclipso's throat, who choked in surprise.

She muttered in his ear, "I won't regret killing you. You've hurt and murdered so, so many innocents. I can't let you roam freely. You deserve death."

A deafening snap echoed throughout the vicinity.

* * *

When Kara's conscience returned to the real world, the first thing she was met with were _those_ beautiful emerald eyes that never ceased to amaze her, that she _never_ got tired of looking at, that she could stare into for eternity.

Lucy felt quite the same when the blackened orbs of the blonde's eyes reverted back to their ethereal sea blue color, its celestial gaze intangible, impalpable.

Their immeasurable love was interrupted when one of them coughed up a grunt of pain.

Then the other gasped, "No!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	26. Icarus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's ending 1/3.
> 
> **WARNING: VIOLENCE AND MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Icarus (author's ending)

* * *

Kara grunted, wincing, coughing up blood that built up in the back of her throat.

The spear ripped clean through the middle of Kara's torso and was beginning to blacken, indicating that Eclipso's soul was being trapped within it.

Lucy's hands trembled, increasing in motion until they shook so much that she loosened her grip on the spear. She looked at her palms, wet and red from the sanguine fluid that flowed from the stem of the lance.

"Told you I'd come back," Kara said, forcing a painful laugh, "I promised."

Then she fell on her side, the lance still impaled through her body.

"No...no, no, no, no... _Please_ , no!" Lucy's panic sank in and she quickly grasped the handle of the holy weapon once again, "K-Kar...I'm going t-to take this out. Don't move."

The blonde was too weak to even nod.

The soldier tugged slightly and the gravely injured woman flinched, letting out a garbled screech, more blood falling from her lips.

Lucy took a deep breath and exhaled, a hideous sound came when she extracted the blade from the flesh of her body.

The blonde groaned and began to hyperventilate, she was clearly trying to hold back an agonizing scream.

Then when it was halfway out, it became lodged.

"Shit," Lucy cursed, her eyes darting alternatively between Kara's pained expression and the weapon.

She noticed that one of the prongs was unable to get past a still intact rib and had a dreadful thought.

_It's stuck and it's definitely not going to budge...I have to twist it around, adjust it until it has an opening._

The brunette could not leave the weapon in either, it had the same effects of Kryptonite and caused profound cell regression.

"Kara...I'm going to have to...move the spear to a more...comfortable spot so I can slide it out."

The blonde hoarsely chuckled and croaked out, "'Comfortable'."

Lucy released a sound that was a cross between a dry laugh and a whimper, "I'm sorry."

The weapon was readjusted several times due to her fumbling hands, and the wounded hero gritted her teeth, pressing her lips into a thin line and clenching her fists. Her breathing became more ragged, wheezing, and she was trying to gulp in as much oxygen as possible for her one lung that was not stabbed through.

Kara choked a gasp when it was fully removed and yelped in pain when the brunette flipped her on her back and pressed her hands firmly onto the large open wound to staunch the profuse bleeding.

"Hey," Lucy whispered gently, "Hey, stay still, you're going to be fine. Help's on the way."

The hero's forehead creased, her brows furrowing, "It's not...not your fault."

"Don't talk like that!" the Lane snapped, then gritted her teeth, rephrasing herself, "Be quiet..."

Then it suddenly occurred to her.

"You...you came back and...and you _let_ this happen?"

Kara frowned, "When I regained consciousness...I had to make a decision in less than a split second... I would've killed you if I hadn't let the spear kill me instead."

"How dare you... How could you..."

The injured alien noticed that Lucy was attempting to cover her puffy, reddened eyes with her draping hair, so the blonde excruciatingly lifted her arm to brush the strands behind the woman's ear.

"Don't cry..." she pleaded, stroking her wet cheek.

Kara was a hypocrite. They both shared the same misty eyes and facial expressions: hurt, worry, despair, anger...love...

Lucy cradled the Kryptonian in her arms, "Please don't leave me. I love you. I love you so much."

"Zhao khap rrip."

She cried out at the Kryptonese phrase, recalling that it was a declaration of love, "Please don't! You can't do this to me! This isn't the end!" then she sniffed, "I've...I've been practicing."

"Practicing...what?"

Lucy's lips trembled, "Nim rrip I zrhemin?"

Kara shed several tears, finding the accent endearing, knowing that the brunette had spent forever learning the tonal inflections, "Yes...of course I'll marry you..."

The voice was softer and lighter than a whisper, Lucy almost missed it because she was crying.

Then, "El mayarah..."

"Stronger together," the brunette translated, her voice shaky.

She nodded.

The last thing Kara remembered was Eclipso's words...

" _You're not allowed to save her."_

The tips of her lip curved to a slight upturned smile.

_But I did... Maybe not from this ordeal...but she'll heal...in time..._

Kara's hand fell from her lover's face, the remaining stars fading from her eyes, rendering it void of the liveliness she once gave the world.

* * *

The last thing she saw was the bright light of the rising sun and Alura's figure reaching out to her, with Astra, Kal-El, and Zor-El by her side.

"Welcome home," her mother said, flashing a sweet smile.

Kara wrapped her in a tight hug and proceeded to do the same with her father and her aunt.

"We've been waiting for you," Clark grinned, pulling her into his embrace.

"It's nice to see you again, Kal..."

Together, they all entered the rapture of Rao's light.

* * *

Lucy cried out, her anguish apparent, her jittering hands folding over the lids of the lifeless eyes. She leaned her face into the crook of Kara's neck, the sunny yellow tresses tickling her skin; her usual scent of vanilla and strawberry was tainted by the iron odor of the blood. Her hand clutched the emblem on the super suit, the other moved through the gored and matted blonde hair to caress Kara's paled cheeks.

The brunette's sobs transitioned into tormented wails.

Limping footsteps approached her, she lifted her head up and wiped the blurriness from her eyes to see Alex and J'onn slowly approaching.

At the sight of her little sister, the agent rushed as fast as she could to her side.

Several emotions flashed across her face: anger, denial, hopelessness, grief.

J'onn as well. He was standing off a little way away, silent tears dripping down his face.

Soon, Alex was joining Lucy in mourning.

* * *

The world was shaken, numbed by Supergirl's sacrifice. Like her cousin, a memorial was held for lament, complemented with a vigil to commemorate the selflessness of the world's two most beloved heroes.

Then a funeral for Kara Danvers was conducted for friends and family.

In its path stood Alex and Eliza, who were filled with pure agony.

Then Martha, who endured the loss of her niece with them, with Lois by her side as well.

Finally, Lucy, who bore the unique yet excruciating burden of the pain alone.

After the wake, she rolled her wheelchair towards the grave's headstone and just sat there for what seemed like forever, scrolling her eyes over the engraved writing repeatedly.

" _In loving memory of Kara Danvers... You've been the sun of our lives. Our prayers will be the sun that lights your journey home. We'll remember you every dawn and await the night to join you in the sky."_

"Rao's will be done..." Lucy whispered to herself, finishing the last sentence of the Kryptonian prayer.

A warm and friendly hand graced the brunette's back palm, she startled from her downcast eyes.

"Sorry," Alex apologized, squeezing her fingers, then moving behind the wheelchair, "Ready to go?"

Lucy hesitated, reluctant to leave, "Yeah... Let's go..."

* * *

The aftermath of the traumatic event was unbearable for everyone with a deeply personal relationship with Kara.

Cat took the death particularly well on the outside, but when she was alone and ran out of ink or needed papers filed, she always caught herself in the middle of calling out for her former assistant. It was those moments she regretted not referring the blonde by her name correctly.

Her youngest son, Carter, was quite perturbed by the news, bewildered. He was always unsettled when he noticed his mother's confoundment when she needed assistance with anything.

Winn had no one to geek out with over alien technologies, spacecraft, along with any scientific mumbo jumbo. He could not tell her how excited he was that NASA was developing a rocket that would transport humans to Mars; though he knew she would not be interested as Krypton was much more advanced, he definitely was, and if she were alive he would not have hesitated to invite the super gang, and maybe even J'onn as well if he wanted to come along.

James almost never took any photos anymore, and scrapped any prints that even reminded him of the caped crusaders in any way.

Eliza often looked to the night sky, dearly hoping there was a heaven that existed for Jeremiah and Kara to rest in peace.

J'onn reminisced about his biological daughters, how they died at the hands of the White Martians. Then he thought about Kara, and experienced that very same pain all over again. Then he thought of Agent Danvers, who retracted into a shell of her former self, lost and confused.

Alex had no sister to confide her secrets to, to binge watch television shows with, to eat ice cream and sweets with, to stuff her face full of delicacies and be beaten by the alien every single time with. Her sister was no longer there to steal the last piece of pizza or potsticker while she attempted to snatch one of them back in vain, no longer there to threaten to melt her face off if she did not get the last piece.

Before Lucy recovered physically from the ordeal, she fell into a slump and resorted to alcoholism; days and nights were spent in isolation, mostly of hangovers and the putrid smell of ethanol that stung her nose and bloodshot eyes. Whenever she was too short to reach for something in the cabinets, she would habitually look behind her for... _her_. Then her expression would darken.

The brunette eventually became sober at Lois's insistence, her requests remained constant: go to a rehabilitation center and get cleaned up, then acquire some therapy to fix, or stitch up, what was left of her sanity. Her persistence was admirable, and she did it. Successfully. But it did nothing to help with the psychological brunt of the pain, especially since there were so many reminders.

Mrs. Carlsen from across the hall had noticed the relative silence and stench of alcohol, who knocked on the door to ask if everything was all right. The shock on her face with the news was expected, so were the many apologies and condolences spewing out of her mouth. Lucy would always tell herself that it was not the other people who were at fault. She would tell herself that when most humans were faced with loss indirectly, they could think of nothing more than to vomit a bunch of words of consolation and solace for the awkward situation. She just blocked them out at this point.

It had been a while since Lucy actually _somewhat_ relaxed; she and J'onn often busied themselves with D.E.O. paperwork, Alex was always on a mission or the shooting range, Lois was in Metropolis, and everyone else had sort of...moved on.

Lucy despised it, that Winn and James and Cat and Carter had let go so easily, from her perspective at least. It had been a few months and most people usually recovered from loss within that span of time. However, the brunette felt it was too short, and could not help but feel bitterness swelling inside of her every time she looked at them.

Winn and Carter were great friends and began to spend more time together.

James went right back into photography and even experienced a bit of writing and editing.

Cat hired a new assistant, and was less mean and pronounced her name correctly.

Truly though, Lucy hated herself. She wanted to move on, but at the same time she could not bring herself to let go.

She wanted to forget. Yes, that was it. No memories meant no pain. No more imagining Kara's blood dripping from her hands, no more obsessively washing them until they became red and sore, until her very bones ached. No more feeling or thinking about Kara's dried blood under her fingertips. No more wishing that it should have been herself instead. No more of the stark phenomenon of Kara's mortality. No more crying herself to sleep every night. No more of the unwillingness to listen to Kara's favorite song.

No more.

Sometimes she just wanted the blonde's very existence erased from her mind.

That thought always seemed so very appealing whenever she came home.

Asa would eagerly sniff the floor for that familiar sweet scent. Mu would creep along the hallways to look around. They would do it for so long until they gave up, heads hanging, and returned into the apartment. Their loyalty never faltered each passing day, they refused to register the failure.

Lucy would always coax them back inside.

One day, the pets stopped their routine, opting to lay on the bed, the bed that was void of Kara's warmth. They accepted the fact that one of their mothers was gone. Asa often whimpered and whined in the middle of the night. Mu was always squaring the perimeter, almost as if he was paranoid something else would take the rest of his family away.

After a long year, Lucy finally found it in herself to visit Kara's grave. It was a bright afternoon, the spring equinox passed a few days ago and the grass was already so green and lush, and the flowers were already budding into beautiful blossoms.

Lucy trekked her way to the stone and sat herself down, carefully placing the box that held the necklace charm she made into the small hole she dug and buried it.

A tear escaped from her eye, trickling down her cheek until it dripped on top of the heap of dirt housing the jewel.

"El mayarah..." Lucy whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	27. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's ending 2/3.
> 
> **WARNING: VIOLENCE AND MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Monster (author's ending)

* * *

Lucy coughed, her blood splattering on Kara's face.

The blonde shook her head from the daze when she noticed her fist resting on the brunette's chest, who slumped over.

"No!" Kara cradled the body, activating her x-ray vision to scope out the damage that she had done.

The irreparable damage that she had done.

The ventricles of Lucy's heart were torn, ruptured. However, the muscle was still beating, but barely, and every time it pumped the severity of the internal bleeding increased.

"Lucy, I'm so sorry..." Kara stroked the dark brown tresses, then her pallor cheeks.

Then she noticed the holy lance that the soldier was loosely holding.

"Why didn't you do it?" her voice wavered.

"I couldn't."

"You should've," Kara hiccupped.

Lucy gently cupped her cheeks, wheezing, "The world _needs_ Supergirl."

"But _I_ need _you_!" she snapped angrily.

"I'm sorry..."

Kara's heart ached, "No, there's nothing you should apologize for. I love you."

"Zhao khap rrip skon."

Kara, despite her shaky voice and sobbing, let out a dry chuckle, "'Skon' means 'tooth', not 'too'."

Lucy smiled, eyes drooping, "I...I tried..."

Before Kara could correct her mistake, the brunette's hand fell limp, emerald eyes forever closed.

* * *

A group of four approached Lucy's vicinity, but the glaring light blinded her eyes and she was unable to make out their identities.

Then, when they got closer, she recognized one face instantly, "Clark?"

He smiled, "How's Lois doing?"

Lucy reciprocated the action, "I think she's been doing better."

The relief in his eyes and his sigh was palpable.

"My name is Zor-El," a tall man greeted, shaking her hand, "I'm Kara's father."

The brunette smiled, then looked at the set of twins, noticing one had a strand of silvery white hair, she bowed her head down, "Astra."

The Kryptonian smiled and nodded in response.

She assumed that the other woman was Kara's mother, who chuckled heartily, "I'm Alura," she leaned in to embrace the human, "You're a part of our family now. Welcome to the House of El, Lucy Lane."

* * *

Kara released her hold on the dead body and recalled what Eclipso had said.

" _You're not allowed to save her."_

Pure rage and fury boiled in the pit of Kara's stomach and she let out a wretched, chilling scream before unleashing her heat vision on the remains of debris around her. She pounded the concrete beneath her feet until they were only pebbles. She crushed slabs of rocks into nothing but powder that was dusted away by the howling wind. In her madness, her wrath toppled over several more structures, destroying everything in her path. However, her passion never ebbed, she felt as if she could go on forever until the whole world was reduced to ashes.

Kara shouted, "How could I have been so _stupid_!"

She split a column of marble, "I should've known!"

She threw the halves as far as she could and repeated, " _Stupid_!"

"Kara, stop!" Alex yelled, trying her best to rush towards her little sister even with her limp.

The older Danvers put her hands on the blonde's shoulders, then patted her cheeks to draw her attention, "Look at me! You have to stop!"

J'onn was about to approach them when Alex gave him a look, telling him that she needed to handle the situation alone.

"I lost her..." Kara whispered, her voice breaking, then she began to sob and tremble uncontrollably, "She was just another person I could lose...and I did...it's my fault...all of it..."

"Oh no, Kar," Alex began to cry as well, pulling her sister in for a tight hug, "No, no, no. _Don't_ blame yourself. It's not your fault. You're not responsible. Just...just let it out."

The hero fell, weeping so loudly that the universe could feel the torture of her grief.

* * *

Kara was permanently broken due to Lucy's death. By her very own hands, the hands that attempted to cook dinner for her, that cupped her face, that touched her gently and lovingly.

Meanwhile, the world continued to call for the young hero's aid, whom she'd left perpetually unanswered.

Supergirl was no more.

When she thought that the pain could not get any worse, the funeral came.

Kara had spent a lot of time with her friends and family, but requested that she be left alone during the wake.

Her tears finally dried, as if she had exhausted them, at least for that day.

She absolutely despised those looks of pity, from everyone.

Even Cat offered her a break and told her not to come in until she recovered.

Everything was so _different_.

Winn was avoiding her, like he was too intimidated to initiate a conversation for fear of triggering a tantrum.

James only conversed her with formalities and niceties.

When Carter visited the corporation, he always stole a pitiful glance at Kara and gave a remorseful smile.

Then Cat was being so much _nicer_ and actually got her name right.

Alex and Eliza offered every single day if she needed them to come over to give her some company.

J'onn refrained from asking anything of Supergirl, insisting that the agents could take care of it on their own.

Kara absolutely hated it.

She hated how everyone treated her differently, even her co-workers. She hated how things had changed, and she did not do well with change.

Then there was coming home to Asa and Mu, and she could see in their eyes that they were expecting Lucy to come home with her as well. When she did not they sauntered over to the bed, crying themselves to sleep with Kara, who had nightmares and woke up in a cold sweat every night.

Whenever she tried to cook a homemade meal, it tasted foul, and she would turn around to ask her girlfriend, who was always _there_ , about what she should do. Lucy would give suggestions, tips, tricks, hold her hands...give her soft kisses...

Alex never failed to notice the lost and frantic look in Kara's eyes when she turned to face someone who was no longer there. Then there was her increased sensitivity to sudden, noisy sounds, who jumped every time she was startled and would tremble for the next ten minutes.

The former superhero often heard on the radio or news outlet that crime rates had been increasing, but she left those problems to the police and the DEO as donning the red cape was simply too much for her fragile psyche to handle.

Kara's self-hatred skyrocketed whenever she had flashbacks of the event where she unintentionally _murdered_ Lucy.

She found that she spent most of her free time crying, sitting in solitude in a dark corner of her room. She isolated herself even from Mu and Asa, who meowed and barked with worry, scratching at the door until their mother came out of the dark space.

Kara refused to socialize with any person for the next few weeks, not even interacting with her older sister, her closest friend.

Alex had enough and barged into the blonde's room, only to find her laying on the ground, staring blankly toward the ceiling. She scanned the walls, which had several holes scattered throughout the area.

"Kar..."

"I'm fine," the Kryptonian said coldly, still frozen in her spot.

Alex stepped towards her, but was met with a glare. She retracted her foot, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," her voice was so icy it made the auburn-haired woman flinch with its bite.

Kara's eyes were such a pale blue hue, like most of her was not there, or not the same.

The agent sighed, closing the door and leaving the apartment complex.

Kara thought maintaining a hard exterior would make things easier on herself.

It did.

But not for the people who loved her.

Eventually, she pushed them away and they no longer conversed, she even stopped talking to Alex.

Then there was the shopping at the nearby grocers, the blonde had a habit of purchasing at least one pack of the "sweet and slavery" honey slathered bacon she was always googly eyed for, as if Lucy would bring it home and cook for dinner. Kara ended up cooking it herself the first time, but it just did not taste appealing. She continued to buy them, they all went untouched and rotted so she would have to throw them away; she did not mind wasting the money on them though, they served as a reminder...not too sad to look at, but melancholically tender to her mind.

However, there was the elderly lady working at the checkout lanes, who noticed the absence of the beautiful Lucy and Kara's stiff posture and cold, downcast eyes. Eventually, the old woman found the courage, or perhaps nosiness, to carefully ask about Lucy's wellbeing.

The blonde's eyes softened and she forced a smile, lied that she was doing fine, and proceeded to push her cart away.

The lady was all too familiar with that somber expression and reached out to gently brush Kara's arm, who stopped and pivoted around.

"My name's Mildred," she said, her wise eyes reading every detail on the young woman's face, "How about some tea?"

Her eyes twinkled, and her rough, wrinkly hands felt course resting on top of the blonde's young skin, "Don't worry, it's on me."

Kara was glad she did not decline the offer. Well, the offer of tea, not the fact that she did not have to pay for it, though she was more of a latte person. Plus, there were also baked cookies and the woman went out of her way to make them shaped like dinosaurs.

Mildred asked no questions, they just sat in silence and sipped their drinks on her front porch overlooking her beautiful garden. There was the pleasant white noise in the background because a rather outdated box television sat itself on top of the thick railing.

It was Kara's turn to wonder what happened to the older woman's husband, who had dark skin, as the dainty house was filled with his mementoes.

Mildred answered her unasked question, "Racism."

Kara nearly dropped her cup of tea.

"I've learned that racism during my time took many lives, Richard's life, from me...and it still does," the lady chuckled, "I've also learned that things are a real problem if tea can't fix it."

She softened her voice, "I do hope that narrow-minded bigots didn't take _her_ away from you."

The blonde's lips flinched, she slightly smiled, genuinely, shaking her head, "No."

Then she frowned, perhaps Mildred was unable to completely move on, that she was not looking for closure, but just someone with a similar fate and understanding.

Kara sighed, realizing that maybe she would never recover, never get her closure, despite the many months that passed since the incident.

Mildred sprinkled a surprising amount of salt into her teacup and sipped, then noticed the blonde's shocked expression.

She winked, swaying her beverage side to side, "I like it...sal- _tea_."

Kara burst out in laughter, her heart melting for the first time in months, "I tend to like mine...min- _tea_."

It was the old woman's turn to cackle, her false teeth nearly popping out. She scooted the plate of cookies towards the alien, "You shop for a lot of sweets, don't tell me you don't want some."

The blonde took a piece and bit the head off, "Is there a reason why they're shaped like dinosaurs?"

"I was hoping you'd ask!" Mildred cheered, snatching a cookie from the platter and dipping it into her drink, " _Tea_ -rex!"

They laughed together, enjoying the sunlight that shined down on the quaint neighborhood.

"You can come here whenever you'd like," Mildred smiled, clasping her hands with Kara's, "Whenever you're sad or happy, I'm here to listen, and I've always wanted a grandchild, so you can act as a surrogate."

Kara grinned widely, showing her pearly white teeth, "Thank you."

The television buzzed, "There's an armed robbery at National City Bank, and the perpetrators have alien weapons and taken several hostages. The police are currently trying to remedy the situation and they may even have to call in the SWAT team."

A million thoughts went through the blonde's mind, then she apologized to Mildred, "I'm sorry, I loved spending my time with you, but I...uh...I've got to go. I forgot that my boss wanted some papers returned to her right about now."

Before Kara could leave, the old woman called out to her, "I'm rooting for you. Go out and save the day...Supergirl."

The hero pivoted, "W-What? I...I'm not..."

Mildred groaned, "Oh _please_ , I may be ancient, but I'm not dumb. You crushed a thick jar of jelly with one bare hand _without_ getting cut by the glass shards. And don't think I didn't see you using your laser beam eyes to heat up your tea! I asked you if it was too cold or too hot! You could've said something! If you want to keep a secret, be more discreet!"

The old lady's false teeth popped out from the yelling and she quickly pushed them back in, smacking and licking her lips.

Kara's eyes widened, then she chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the nape of her neck, "Guil- _tea_ as charged."

She shuffled her feet, "I'm sorry. I'll let you know next time."

"Good," Mildred nodded, laughing, "Now go. Those hostages aren't going to save themselves you know."

The lady made a shooing motion with her hand and waved the hero goodbye.

Kara nodded, taking her phone out, dialing a number.

"Uh...Kara?" the voice said cautiously, confused, "What's going on? We haven't talked in forever and..."

"What's the situation on the bank robbery, Alex?" the blonde interrupted.

The older Danvers's shock refrained her from responding for a few seconds, "Er...are you...are you okay?"

Kara sighed, "I'm fine... I'll be at the D.E.O. in five, maybe ten."

There was a pause.

"Ready to save the world again, Supergirl?"

The blonde could just see Alex's wide smile behind the phone screen, "You mean we."

"The Danvers sisters are back at it again!"

The hero laughed.

"Um..." Alex's voice was tentative, "Are you sure that you're okay?"

Kara sighed, tears welling up in her eyes, "Not really, but I think...I think I'll get better. I might not be the same, but..."

"It's okay, Kar," Alex soothed, "We're always here for you."

The blonde smiled, "Yeah... Sister night maybe?"

"I'll pay for the pizza and potstickers, and I'll _probably_ get you a tub of ice cream too."

"Sounds good," Kara hung up. She was in a dark area and rapidly changed into her super suit during the call.

The familiar feel of the fabric felt...different. She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head, willing the rising bad memories to go away.

A tear fell from her face, and she thought of Lucy before flying away at sonic speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


	28. Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader's ending 3/3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on FF as Local-Asshole.**

# Rise (true/reader's ending)

* * *

Supergirl felt a burning pain throughout her abdomen.

The lance pierced through her stomach and the purity of the white color was beginning to be tainted by the darkness of Eclipso's soul.

Kara grasped the staff and without a second thought she removed the blades with a sickening squelch. She collapsed onto her knees and attempted to stem the bleeding with her hands, which were joined by another pair.

Lucy became panicked when she felt the body slump onto her.

"Kara!"

"I'm...fine," she replied.

The brunette breathed a sigh of relief and J'onn flew by to sling the hero's arm around his shoulders, "C'mon, get up, we have to get you to the med bay."

"But, so...tired..." Kara whined, grunting with every step that sent vibrations up her beaten body.

"Quit complaining!" the Martian snapped, finally carrying her into his arms, "Let's get you to the DEO, some of the medical staff are still there."

"We'll wait here for you to take us back," Alex said, limping next to Lucy and sliding down.

J'onn nodded, then took off.

"You look like shit, Director Lane," the auburn-haired woman chuckled, glancing at her warped legs.

"Shut your mouth, Agent Danvers," Lucy scoffed, "Don't make me regret saving you. _Twice_."

"Actually, thanks to you, I only got an arrow to the thigh."

"And I've broken both of my legs and something's probably wrong with my back," the brunette muttered, resting the back of her head against the wall.

"I think we can both agree that Kara got screwed up by all of us," Alex sighed, "I shot her with Kryptonite, hopefully they weren't that deep."

"At least you don't have to live with _my_ guilt," Lucy commented, pressing her palm against her forehead, "I threw a grenade at her and her arm _and_ suit were singed."

"Winn can always fix it."

"True, but I'm going to see those scars for _days_ ," Lucy wiggled her eyebrows and confused the other woman.

"Kara's body will heal _completely_ eventually. Besides, she can wear long sleeves if you're uncomfor..." then it hit Alex and she facepalmed, "Oh _gross_! I didn't need _that_ image etched in my brain."

"She was pretty nervous the first time, it was kind of cute, she still gets nervous, but she's _very_ good now," Lucy smirked, "Kryptonians have a _lot_ of stamina."

"Oh my God, _stop_ ," Alex gagged, "That's my little _sister_ you're talking about."

"I really like that move she does when..."

" _Enough_!" the older Danvers shouted, playfully shoving Lucy over, "I'm _never_ walking into that apartment _ever_ again without a hazmat suit."

The agent shuddered.

"Relax, Alex," the brunette grinned, "I'll stop now."

"Does that mean I get a niece or nephew?"

It was Lucy's turn to be at a loss for words, "Um...I think I'm good with being a dog and cat mom at the moment, we both are."

"Also, I never asked you guys," she started, "How'd the meeting with my mom go?"

The brunette's face reddened.

Alex laughed, "Wish I was there!"

Lucy groaned, ignoring the comment, "When everything's back to normal, the three of us should go out for girls' night."

"Sounds like fun," the agent smiled.

"But you guys owe me a couple of drinks," the brunette quickly said, "Being with the Danvers sisters really takes a toll on your energy..."

Alex slapped the woman's arm.

* * *

"Agent Danvers's rectus femo – I mean thigh muscles were split from the arrowhead, and her femur did receive a scratch, so I recommend utilizing the crutches for a few months coupled with physical therapy," Dr. Hamilton stated.

Then she turned to Lucy, "You're going to be stuck in a wheelchair once again; kneecap shattered along with tearing the surrounding muscles and ligaments, calf bone crushed and the muscles around there were ripped as well...luckily though, her back only received a bruise instead of a fracture like we suspected before the x-ray, albeit a large bruise. Then there's the concussion. I recommend you stay away from field activities like Agent Danvers and have desk jobs in the meantime."

The doctor looked at J'onn, "Your Martian physiology allows you to heal and regenerate lost cells much more quickly than a Kryptonian, so you should stop limping within a few hours."

"Speaking of Kryptonians..." Alex mumbled.

"We've stitched up all of Supergirl's wounds," Dr. Hamilton stated, her eye bags drooping from stress and sleep deprivation, "She sustained quite some serious injuries, but it's nothing a few sun beds and solar injections can't heal: a few lacerations, a concussion, some fractured bones, a large burn, some bruises, internal bleeding, three bullet holes... We're going to keep her for another day to see if the Longinus and Eclipso did any lasting damage to her physiology, but from the surface, I think she should be just fine."

The trio exhaled in relief and the doctor nodded, returning to her duties.

Alex folded her arms and glanced at Lucy from her peripheral vision, "Looks like there's going to be no _physical_ activities for the next few months."

The brunette's voice was cross, "Trust me, we'll find a way."

J'onn snorted, "Oh dear God." He walked away, but paused, turning to face them again, "Safety first."

Lucy's face was a bright pink and Alex threw her head back and chuckled, and felt like she wanted to get into a fetal position to laugh her insides out.

* * *

"Mmm..." Kara moaned, "Saving the world really takes it out of you. I could eat a hundred pounds more of pizza and potstickers."

Lucy put her elbows on the dining table and rested her chin in her palms, "What do you think of dessert?"

The brunette winked discreetly. Or so she thought.

Food immediately fell from Alex's mouth and back onto her plate. She got up from her seat and pushed the chair in, setting her dishes in the sink and grabbing her belongings, "Goodbye."

Lucy rolled her eyes and then focused back on the beautiful blonde in front of her.

Kara's cheeks were blushing, she felt heat crawl up her neck and redden her face, "Oh...I, um...well...uh...but my mouth will taste like soy sauce and grease..."

The brunette smirked, brushing her fingers on top of her lover's hand, sending an electrifying jolt up her spine, "There are plenty of other things to taste..."

Kara's eyes widened and she choked on her potsticker, but quickly gulped it down, laughing nervously.

"I'm going to bed, see you soon," the Lane whispered, but once she was halfway to the door, she stopped and walked back, gripping the collar of Kara's shirt, "On second thought...I want you now."

The blonde giggled and let herself be pulled in for a kiss as they made their way into the bedroom.

Kara pushed Lucy against the mattress, straddling her and pinning her hands against the blanket. She trailed her lips against her neck and the woman let out a high-pitched moan.

The blonde whispered in her ear, "Be quiet, you'll wake the entire floor up."

"I could say the same to you," Lucy smirked, shoving her hands in Kara's pants, who gave a squeak.

"Already?" the brunette breathed in her ear.

Kara sighed, connecting their lips once again, this time more passionate and intense as she forced her tongue into Lucy's mouth, who moaned in delight.

"I need these off," the Kryptonian panted, tugging at the hem of the woman's pants, then using her super speed to rip the clothes away.

"Hey," she whined, "I liked that shirt."

Before the human knew it, her bra was taken off as well.

Lucy flipped their positions so she was on her partner's lap instead, "Can't let you have all the fun now, can I?"

She pulled the blonde up, still straddling her, and began to unbutton the shirt while rocking her hips. Kara placed her hands against Lucy's waist, stabilizing the motion as the grinding was losing rhythm and gradually getting more frantic and uneven.

The blonde shrugged her shirt off and tossed it to the side along with her bra, then pulled the human closer until their naked chests pressed against each other.

Lucy trailed her hands down the toned abs and unbuckled the Kryptonian's jeans, panting, "Off. Now."

It was not until then that Kara felt a wet spot accumulating through the fabric and gladly shook off the offending article of clothing.

Lucy roughly pushed Kara back onto the mattress, who whined.

"Sorry, Supergirl, the hero goes first. Then you can have your turn," the brunette sighed, chuckling at her partner's annoyed growl before pulling at the hem of her panties.

* * *

"'You'll wake the entire floor up,'" Lucy mocked, repeating Kara's words from last night, "Says the person who woke the entire floor up."

"Not the _entire_ floor!" the blonde countered, rubbing the back of her neck, "Just...just next door is all..."

"It's okay," Lucy shrugged, eating the pasta from her fork and following up with a swig of her liquor. The next sentence she said caused some heads to turn, "At least I know you _really_ enjoyed it."

"Luce!" Kara whispered harshly, making a pouty face, "We're in a restaurant!"

The brunette waved her hand, ignoring her complaint, "Can I borrow your chap stick by the way?"

The alien groaned, reaching into her purse, "Just...like...can you put your finger on it and then..." The blonde made a gesture, mimicking the action people do when applying things on their lips.

Lucy's jaw dropped, her brows arching in confusion, "Kara, my _tongue_ has literally been _in_ your mouth."

"Quiet!" the blonde shushed, knees bumping the table to cover her girlfriend's mouth from across. She darted her eyes all over the area and thankfully only a few turned their heads.

"Okay..." Kara said, straightening her dress, leaving the money on the table, and dragging her date outside, "You've had a _little_ too much to drink there, plus it's dark, we should probably head home..."

"I'm perfectly fine!" Lucy protested, removing the grip on her wrist. She wobbled for a few seconds before stabilizing her stance, "Oh! I almost forgot!"

"Forgot what?"

The brunette spun on her heels, her dress twirling along, nearly falling over. She rested on one knee and held out a box showcasing the charm necklace she made for her beloved. Lucy's head was bent down as she was extremely nervous, "Ummm...will you...marry me?"

A few seconds passed and there was no reply, the proposer felt butterflies brewing in the pit of her stomach.

A sniffle coaxed the brunette to look up to see her lover's teary face, whose hand was covering her mouth in shock.

"W-what?" Lucy had a hurt expression and staggered up to meet the azure eyes she so adored, then she mumbled softly, "Why're you crying? Did you really think that I wasn't going to want to spend the rest of my life with you? For God's sake, I _love_ you!"

Kara laughed, stumbling over her words, "Of course I want to marry you! I'm happy, but kind of frustrated too..."

"Frustrated?" she gasped.

"Yeah!" the blonde replied, reaching into her purse to pull out a box with a ring, "You beat me to it!"

Lucy tackled her fiancée, embracing her in a tight hug and began to cry as well.

Kara stroked her future wife's cheek and whispered, "Love you too."

The couple was unaware of the filming, cheering, and clapping people that surrounded them when they shared an affectionate kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**

**Author's Note:**

> **Constructive criticism appreciated.**


End file.
